MUMBAI: India will look to avoid a rare series whitewash at home when they meet New Zealand in the third and final Test of the series in Mumbai from Friday and head coach Gautam Gambhir said his team had to rise to the challenge.

New Zealand tormented the hosts with pace and beat them by eight wickets in Bengaluru for their first Test victory in India for 36 years. They wrapped up the series in Pune with a 113-run victory set up by the spinners.

It was New Zealand’s maiden series win in India going back to 1955 and the Black Caps snapped the hosts’ proud home streak of 18 successive series triumphs since their 2-1 defeat by England 12 years ago.

The last time India were blanked in a home series was in 2000, when they lost 2-0 to South Africa, and Gambhir said his batsmen had to adapt before the forthcoming tour to Australia, where they 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 frailties 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 skipper Tom Latham said the team were looking forward to the opportunity for a 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, meanwhile, said the World Test Championship has breat­hed new life into the five-day format by making every match important.

The Black Caps have revived their chances of making the WTC final at Lord’s next year after taking the unbeatable 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 cut after their two losses, with Australia a close second followed by Sri Lanka and New Zealand.

India have made the two 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 won the series, Latham said India are a “quality side” and two defeats “doesn’t make them a bad team overnight”.

Published in Dawn, November 1st, 2024