Adapt quickly in India or pay the price: NZ coach Hesson

New Zealand, rated fifth in the world, plays the first of three ODIs against India in Mumbai on October 22. India once again proved how formidable it is at home with a 4-1 ODI series win over Australia. 

“Look, its record at home has been phenomenal in the last two or three years,” Hesson told reporters as the team departed New Zealand. “You know going over there that you have to perform, otherwise you get taught a pretty harsh lesson. It’s important for us to adapt really quickly.” Hesson travels to India with a core of nine players, including captain Kane Williamson and batting stalwarts Martin Guptill and Ross Taylor. He will pick a further six players from the New Zealand A side currently touring India.

“The beauty of an A tour means we’ve already got people in India, adapting to conditions, so when they come in they should be as familiar as they’re going to be,” he said. Hesson said India presented unique challenges to touring players. “Obviously there’s the dew factor, the conditions are all very different depending on the grounds you go to,” he said. 

“We’re going to rely a lot of the experience of our senior players.” Power-hitting left hander Colin Munro is likely to open New Zealand’s innings with Martin Guptill on the limited overs tour of India with Tom Latham dropping down the order, coach Mike Hesson has said. 

“It would be fair to say Guptill and Tom, although they have had some really good performances individually, haven’t really clicked at the top and certainly haven’t generated a strike-rate as a pair that we’d like”, said Hesson.