A week that will forever define New Zealand cricket.
In sport, the toughest thing to do is turn things around. Change a bad patch into a good one. Defaat into victory, and adversity into triumph. New Zealand has done it spectacularly in the last one week, and what happened with their cricket could be a good leadership case study.
For context, the women’s team went into the T20 World Cup at the back of ten straight losses. No one really gave them a chance. We were all speaking of Sri Lanka as the dark horses that could upset India. Not New Zealand. And yet Sophie Devine, Amelia Kerr and the rest went on to script history by winning their maiden world title.
The men came into the India Test series on the back of a demoralising series defeat in Sri Lanka. Not many gave them even a sniff of a chance, and all the talk was about the forthcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy. New Zealand did the unthinkable and caused an upset of humungous proportions. They are already 2-0 ahead, and could well end up giving India their first home whitewash in decades.
How did they achieve what they have? What’s the recipe? Are there lessons for all of us in this?
First things first, it is about self-belief. That you can beat India in India. In sport, there is nothing that should be considered impossible. You can indeed win a World Cup, and these favourites’ tags don’t matter. The second is to always have a plan B. India changed tack and prepared a rank turner in Pune. New Zealand were ready for it. Out came the sweep and the reverse-sweep. India’s frontline spinners weren’t able to get on top even once and the game was done. Rather, it was India that struggled. They did not have a plan B. Against Mitchell Santner, batters like Shubman Gill and Sarfaraz Khan, not to forget Virat Kohli, never really inspired confidence.
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The Tom Latham effort in the second innings in Pune, and the Sophie Devine knock versus India sum it up. Devine played the best we have seen her play in a while in that World Cup opener against India. To be able to blow India away by 58 runs set the tone. India never really recovered, and the door opened for New Zealand. Devine attacked the Indian spinners, and all of a sudden, they did not know what to do next. On a track where shot-making was considered difficult, New Zealand raced to 160. India had been beaten tactically and strategically.
The same happened with the men. Latham made brilliant use of the Bengaluru conditions, and his bowlers made merry. And just when it seemed India could come back, Rachin Ravindra and Tim Southee had a series-defining partnership. In Pune too, it was the New Zealand batting in the second innings that stood out. On a wearing wicket, Latham, Will Young, Tom Blundell and Glenn Phillips all made telling contributions against the Indian spinners. The truth is Sri Lanka had prepared them for India. They knew what to expect, and always had a plan B. India did not, and were caught off guard.
New Zealand will hope this phase doesn’t end. But that’s what sport is all about. Real, not reel, and every day is a new beginning. India know that, and will hope to start afresh in Mumbai on November 1.
Also Read: Baffling that India continue to repeat the mistake of preparing rank turners