CHRISTCHURCH: New Zealand plan to take the game to India with a “no fear” approach when they play Tests in Bengaluru, Pune and Mumbai over the next month, new captain Tom Latham said on Friday. Latham took over as permanent Test captain from Tim Southee last week and said touring India, who have not lost a test series at home in more than a decade, was a “great challenge”.

“Hopefully (we’ll) play with a bit of freedom, bit of no fear and try take it to them. And if we do, hopefully that gives ourselves a good chance,” he told reporters at Christchurch airport on Friday before his departure for India.

“I think in India, we’ve seen teams that have done well there in the past have been quite aggressive towards them, especially with the bat,” the 32-year-old added.

“They’ve looked to play a few shots but also put them under pressure, which is really important over there, rather than sitting and waiting for something to happen.”

Latham said he did not envisage much of a change to the side’s approach under his leadership.

“We’ve obviously done a lot of good stuff as a Test team over a period of time, and it’s about trying to take all the good stuff that we’ve been doing, try to continue doing that,” he said.

“And I think for me, it’s just about putting my spin on things. And that may look different, it may look slightly the same, but wait and see, it’s obviously not going to change overnight.”

Latham has already captained the Black Caps on several occasions on a temporary basis, mainly when his predecessor but one, Kane Williamson, was injured.

Williamson has been ruled out of the first test, which starts in Bengaluru on Wednesday, due to a groin injury sustained against Sri Lanka and did not travel with the squad on Friday.

Published in Dawn, October 12th, 2024