Hyderabad, Aug 19: New Zealand cricketers Brendon McCullum, Martin Guptill and Kane Williamson are familiar with the Indian conditions and have had some good times in the middle in the past here. Top-order batsmen, McCullum and Guptill who are likely to open for the Black Caps are key players in their side’s fortunes. During a brief interaction with the media ahead of the first Test match against India they discussed playing in India and their expectations from the series ahead.
Excerpts from their chat with the media:
Brendon McCullum:
On expectations from the coming series
Hopefully we play some good cricket and we get the results that we are after and we come away with a series win. Obviously we had a tough time of late in Test cricket but [it’s a] new era and new regime and we have some high hopes for the team.
On whether having played in the IPL help since the conditions are now familiar
Yes, that is one of the things. The players have played in Indian conditions lot more and are exposed to Indian conditions a lot more and have become lot more familiar with the conditions and the heat and things like that so hopefully it’s a little bit of advantage for us because some [of us] have played in the IPL and some of our basic players have also played in the Champions League [T20] [here] as and been exposed to these conditions. We are a lot better prepared in terms of playing in the sub-continent conditions then what we would have been probably 10-15 years ago so hopefully that should be to our benefit.
On whether NZ has an advantage in the absence of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman
It is obviously a big loss for India to lose two of the greatest players of the game in such quick succession. The bowlers certainly had a spring in their stride from that point of view this morning when they read that news. But the thing about Indian cricket is their [batting] depth [bench strength] is very good as well. The players they bring in will be talented players with lot of ability. From our point of view we are pleased that they don’t have hundred Test matches and 10000 runs under their name. From their point of view it is an opportunity for the guys to come forward. We are going to make sure we are well prepared for the guys who step in so it’s a good challenge for us as well.
On the inexperienced bowling attack
We have some inexperienced bowlers but there is enthusiasm, there is freshness and there is youth and we also have some experienced guys. We have got Chris Martin who has been the leader of our attack for a long time. He is an integral member of our team and it is a huge benefit to be able to have him in the Test squad to help those younger guys. We have some experienced players as well who will hopefully help those youngsters. The young guys who have just started out in their international careers have done well so far. We are confident that they will get the job done against a very good Indian team.
Martin Guptill
On the series
I am looking forward to carry my form from the West Indies. I played very well there and I hope to bring that into these two Test matches here.
Kane Williamson
On his expectations and plans for the series
I had a slow start in the West Indies so I am looking to turn things around here. I started my Test career here and I enjoy batting in these conditions so I try to think back to those times and take my game forward and hopefully runs will come my way.
