MUMBAI: India is determined to avoid a rare home series whitewash as they face New Zealand in the third and final Test in Mumbai starting Friday. Head coach Gautam Gambhir emphasized that his team must rise to the challenge.
New Zealand stunned the hosts with their pace attack, securing an eight-wicket victory in Bengaluru—marking their first Test win in India in 36 years. They sealed the series in Pune with a 113-run victory, driven by their spinners.
This series win is New Zealand’s first in India since 1955 and broke India’s impressive streak of 18 consecutive home series wins, a run dating back to their 2-1 defeat by England 12 years ago.
India last faced a home series whitewash in 2000, losing 2-0 to South Africa. Gambhir highlighted the importance of adaptability ahead of the forthcoming tour to Australia, where India will play five Tests.
“We should be able to adapt. We should be a side that can get 400 on a day if we need to get a result and able to bat for two days as well. That’s what growth is and that’s what Test cricket is all about,” Gambhir told reporters on Thursday.
“Test cricket can’t be played in a single manner because it’s about adaptability, looking at the situation and playing according to the situation and more importantly, it’s about playing sessions.
“If we can start to learn to play sessions, with the quality we have in our batting lineup, I think if we play 4-1/2 sessions we’ll have a lot of runs on the board.”
Mitchell Santner’s match haul of 13 wickets in Pune exposed India’s weaknesses against spin bowling.
“Sometimes you have to hand it to the opposition. I think Mitchell Santner was outstanding in the last game. We’ll keep working hard and getting better. The guys are putting in the hard yards in the nets,” Gambhir added.
“Ultimately it’s the results that matter when you’re playing international cricket, but I don’t think our skills against spin have actually gone down.
“It’s about working hard and getting better.”
New Zealand captain Tom Latham expressed his excitement about the potential for a series sweep.
“We’ve done a lot of good stuff over the last couple of weeks, but I guess for us, every Test match, you go in with the focus of trying to win key moments, not necessarily focusing on the result,” Latham said.
“That’s the byproduct of putting things together back to back, good sessions back to back. This is a different pitch, and these are different conditions.”
Latham also noted that the World Test Championship (WTC) has revitalized the five-day format by adding importance to every match.
The Black Caps have improved their chances of reaching the WTC final at Lord’s next year after securing an unassailable lead against India.
“From our point of view there is a bigger carrot at the end in terms of the World Test Championship, so for us every game is really important,” Latham told reporters in Mumbai.
India’s lead at the top of the WTC standings has been reduced after their two losses, with Australia close behind, followed by Sri Lanka and New Zealand.
India has reached the finals of both previous WTC seasons, losing to New Zealand in the inaugural edition and then to Australia last year.
Latham said winning the competition previously “gives you a taste of what that success feels like”.
“I think once you do it once, you want to do it again,” he added.
Despite having already won the series, Latham acknowledged that India remains a “quality side” and noted that two defeats “don’t make them a bad team overnight”.
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