Why NZ are safe at home
Captain confident despite India’s poor record in Wellington
The old brewery-sponsored tune of the 1990s used to proclaim: ‘‘You can’t beat Wellington on a good day, or even a bad day too’’.
For India and their captain Virat Kohli, any win in Wellington will do as they look to halt a surprising 52-year streak at the Basin Reserve in tomorrow’s first test against New Zealand.
Kohli and his team-mates – the world’s No 1 side on a seven-test winning streak – strode onto the Basin yesterday under grey, drizzly skies to inspect a glowing emerald strip that will become the test pitch at 11.30am tomorrow.
Their last, and only, test win in Wellington was thanks to the spin of Bapu Nadkarni and Erapalli Prasanna in 1968. In six subsequent Basin visits there were four New Zealand wins and two draws, in 2009 and 2014, the latter when Brendon McCullum scored a triple-century.
In New Zealand in the past 30 years, India won just one of their 16 tests, at Hamilton in 2009 when MS Dhoni’s side won that threetest series 1-0. It’s the kind of numbers the Black Caps are confronted with when they tour the subcontinent, and reinforces how home advantage can be their best friend this week.
‘‘We have prepared in a manner where our fitness levels and concentration levels are such that we can compete against anyone in the world,’’ Kohli said. ‘‘That’s the kind of confidence we will carry into this series.’’
That statement was justified for what looks among the strongest Indian test sides to visit our shores, already with one foot in the new World Test Championship final at Lord’s next year.
Kohli – having watched McCullum plunder and scored a century himself in 2014 – then offered a thoughtful insight into why the Black Caps are so tough, nearly three years since their last home test defeat, to South Africa also at the Basin.
‘‘Not saying this in a negative manner, but the crowd plays a massive role in England and Australia. You need to be in a zone where you need to be feisty and counter that from all angles,’’ he said.
‘‘In New Zealand it’s all about cricket discipline and what the team brings on the field. They’re very intense and very fit guys and
they can keep going all day and test your patience.
‘‘They’re very skilled bowlers and batsmen and brilliant fielders, so they don’t give a lot to bank on or pounce on. You need to be wary of the chances that come your way and be focused enough to capitalise.
‘‘It takes a lot more concentration on the field in New Zealand rather than dealing with things off the field and that’s good for the players to be in that kind of zone.’’
Then, another statement of intent for a side with a powerhouse pace attack of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and either Umesh Yadav or Ishant Sharma.
‘‘We are not the same team that we used to be. We have a very complete squad now.’’
Kohli and his opposite Kane Williamson shared their usual cheery greeting, blazers on, and posed for the pre-series photo in the freshly reopened Old Pavilion Stand yesterday.
Kohli insisted New Zealand’s horror Australian tour where they lost 3-0, ravaged by injuries, illness, plummeting confidence and a bullish home side, would mean little now.
‘‘It can happen. Kane’s leadership was questioned and these things pop up pretty quickly. Having been in those situations myself I can tell you it’s not that alarming for any team.
‘‘Things can turn around pretty quickly. You saw in the ODI series we lost 3-0 and it didn’t look that way before we started. If you gain momentum at the right time you can play good cricket.
‘‘Playing at home they will have more control over what they do as a group so they will understand their plans much better.’’
‘‘They’re very intense and very fit guys and they can keep going all day and test your patience.’’
Virat Kohli explains New Zealand’s formidable home record
Strolling off the Sydney Cricket Ground in early January, Todd Astle knew he was done with test cricket. The Canterbury legspinner’s retirement from red-ball cricket several weeks later came as a shock to most.
Having scrapped for his five test matches at international level over an eight-year span, Astle had finally cemented himself as New Zealand’s No 1 red-ball spinner.
With Mitchell Santner out of favour after a tough tour of Australia and Will Somerville injured, the 33-year-old looked a lock for the two-match Indian home series, starting tomorrow.
Instead of running around the Basin Reserve and Hagley Oval, he’ll be watching from the outside, having decided to prioritise T20 and one-day cricket. If there was any unhappiness about not being utilised enough when picked for New Zealand, or a lack of opportunities despite stellar Plunket Shield performances, Astle is remaining diplomatic.
New Zealand’s decision to stick with left-armer Santner for the Boxing Day test at the MCG was bemusing after he went 0-146 in the first test and the need for an attacking legspinner.
‘‘I look back to the Sydney test and I remember after that thinking that was the ultimate, getting to play the Australians in their own backyard,’’ Astle told
Stuff.
‘‘As a kid I grew up playing backyard cricket and I was [Ricky] Ponting or [Mark and Steve] Waugh or [Shane] Warne, so to be over there and those guys were all commentating, and to take them on and to get a couple of wickets and some runs that was really special.
‘‘It really sank in, in the following days, that it was nice to finish on my terms, then hand the baton to the next cab off the rank.’’
To play in a test against Australia at the hallowed SCG and bowl on a spin-friendly surface, Astle said it was the ideal place to end his test career.
Thoughts of finishing up in red-ball cricket entered his mind at the start of the summer. He became the first Canterbury bowler to capture 300 first-class wickets in their second Plunket Shield match of the season, a milestone he had long targeted.
Making his first-class debut in 2005 as an opening batsman,
Astle said years of toil on his body and the commitment needed for long-form cricket had become harder. Time spent away from wife Rachel, and their young family, son Flynn (3) and daughter Summer (18 months) was challenging. Astle also works as a mental skills coach and mentor, running a business, Innerspin, which is starting to take off.
With a Hagley Oval test against India looming and his place in the squad secure, Astle must have been tempted to carry on a little longer. He’s comfortable with his choice and plans to spend at least a day on the grass bank with Flynn watching his former test team-mates.
‘‘I’ve played five tests over a seven-eight year period, but I’ve
‘‘I’d have loved to have played more, but I’m really stoked to have achieved what I have in the red-ball format.’’
Todd Astle
played 119 first-class games overall, so that’s a heck of a lot of cricket over a 10-year period.
‘‘It was a case of if my heart isn’t fully in it, I didn’t think I was doing myself or others justice if I was to continue on, so that’s where I had to be really clear with my communication with Steady [Black Caps coach Gary Stead] and make sure things were lined up.’’
In two of Astle’s three tests in New Zealand, he didn’t bowl in the first innings with Pakistan and England skittled cheaply.
‘‘I’d have loved to have played more, but I’m really stoked to have achieved what I have in the red-ball format.
‘‘I’m at peace with the [decision]. The Pakistan home test [at Hagley Oval in 2016] was really special, to sing the national anthem in front of my wife and little one.’’
White-ball cricket is now Astle’s focus and with two T20 World Cups over the next two years, his eyes are firmly fixed on breaking into New Zealand’s squad.
‘‘In T20 every ball is an event, so you’re trying to really get a read on what batsmen are trying todo...
‘‘With legspin, you have the unpredictability of variations and my wrong’un has been effective. It’s just trying to change the angle and pace and those types of things.’’
Astle was among the hard luck stories when New Zealand’s one-day Cricket World Cup squad was announced last year.
Stead admitted he stewed over Astle and Ish Sodhi for the legspinner berth and second spinner behind Santner.
Astle was ‘‘devastated’’ to have missed out, but couldn’t have been prouder of the way New Zealand performed, being pipped for the title by England on a controversial boundary countback following a tied final and Super Over.
‘‘It was a tough pill to swallow, but at the same time watching on in the final and seeing how well they carried themselves and competed all the way through that tournament was a real testament to the group.’’