PUNE: During the middle of the Tom Latham press conference post the second Test at Pune, the only travelling New Zealand journalist had a request. He got up and performed a 20-second 'war dance' before proceeding to thank the Kiwi skipper for what his side and he managed to achieve over the last two Tests.
The Black Caps had been touring India for 69 years and have almost always gone back empty-handed. For the first time in their history, they beat the beast away from home. How did they do it? Latham, appointed as skipper following a disappointing 0-2 reverse at Sri Lanka last month, gathered his troops just before they departed. They wanted to try and do something different to the Indian bowlers, the spinners especially. "Fire the first shot," he said at the press conference in Pune. He repeated that phrase a few times. Mitchell Santner had used the exact same phrase after he had picked up a seven-wicket haul on Day Two of the Test.
What did he mean 'by firing the first shot'? Trying to bat with aggression, as a strategy, isn't reinventing the wheel. It's existed for as old as time. In fact, earlier in 2024, when England had come to these shores, they wanted to do the exact same thing. They had told everyone who had bothered to listen. The Indian spinners, slowly but surely, picked the batters. By the time the fifth Test had ended, the efficiency of their batters had reduced to the level of raffle-winners.
The visitors didn't focus on hitting every ball. They, instead, had a basic starting point. Not block every ball, show intent whenever possible and try to put pressure on the spinners. In a match scenario, what would this translate to? Be proactive, remove close-in fielders by scoring a few boundaries before you are able to rotate strike comfortably and seeing how their spinners bowl when the field is spread out.
The evidence after the first two Tests is striking (and worrying if you are an Indian fan). In the last six New Zealand tours to India from 1999 to 2021, their most proactive tour — in terms of RPO — had come in 2012 when they had managed to go at a shade of over 3. In 2024? 3.82. You extrapolate that to over a day's play, it's a difference of over 60 runs.
Take the case of the 2021 outfit. Over four innings, they had scored at a rate of 2.12 runs per over. In that entire series, they had managed only two sixes and 79 fours. This time? 109 fours and 18 sixes.
Santner, who hit two sixes in his innings of 33 in the first innings at Pune, explained the shift from 'blocking everything in previous tours' to 'firing the first shot and see what happens'. "We know how challenging it can be in these conditions," he said. "We have seen India squeeze teams a lot of times. What's pleasing with the bat was seeing the guys fire some shots, go out, play some sweeps and take on the bowlers. We know as a bowler if we see batters use their feet or go back or sweep, it can upset your length a little bit. In the past, we have come here and just block everything and eventually one's got your name on it. We kind of spoke about that."
It's one of the reasons why the hosts' spinners never truly had any sort of control or the kind of stranglehold you normally see in Tests in India. The visitors didn't allow them. They kept milking them for runs across all parts of the ground. While some of this is due to circumstances -- there's only so much you can attack after being bowled out for 46 -- this was a plan concocted in Wellington before the team left. "Hopefully we can go over there and play with a bit of freedom, with no fear and try to take it to them," he had said. "We have seen teams That have done well there in the past have been quite aggressive towards them, especially with the bat. They have looked to play a few shots but also put them under pressure, which is really important."
After executing this plan to perfection, the 32-year-old was grinning from ear to ear. "We wanted to fire a shot, be the one that puts India under a bit of pressure (and) what that may look like from a bowling point of view or a batting point of view. I certainly think we have done that," the southpaw said. "The way we played in this game with the bat was really important. Time wasn't necessarily an issue but it was runs. You saw the way we played yesterday (Friday), be a bit more positive, be a bit more attacking to get the sweepers out so that rotating strike is a bit easier. From a bowling point of view, we were talking about keeping things simple, bowling our best ball time and time again and I think the surfaces have offered enough."
Irrespective of what happens in Mumbai, the visitors have provided a bit of a blueprint for teams coming to India. If the others have a similar impact, the hosts may face a bigger challenge.
Year RPO Avg/wkt
2024 3.82 32.06
2021 2.12 17.69
2016 2.98 22.51
2012 3.07 23.40
2010 3.01 33.61
2003 2.84 56.45
1999 2.27 29.32
4s & 6s scored by NZ in the last two trips
Year 4s 6s
2021 79 2
2024 109 18