Pune: New Zealand players Tim Southee and Ross Taylor during a practice session in Pune on Tuesday, ahead of the 2nd ODI cricket match against India. PTI Photo by Shashank Parade (PTI10_24_2017_000055B) Pune : New Zealand wicketkeeper-batsman Tom Latham, who scored an unbeaten century in the team’s surprise win over India, prefers playing the sweep shot against the spinners rather than hitting them down the ground.
At the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday, left-handed Latham relied on sweeps and reverse-sweeps to overcome the challenge posed by the Indian spin duo of Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav.
“Everybody is different in the way they play spin in different conditions. I think the Indians play the different way, they are used to these conditions and they have got their game,” said Latham.
“One thing that comes to me is sweep that I have played throughout my career. It’s something that I find easier to play than hitting down the ground.”
The southpaw, who was among the runs when the Kiwis toured India last year, was speaking to reporters on the eve of the second ODI here tomorrow.
“The other guys may find hitting down the ground easier. It’s important to have different game plans for different conditions and try and stick to that,” the 25-year-old said.
Latham paid heed to the advise by senior pro Ross Taylor who asked him to use sweep and reverse sweep to disturb the length of Yadav and Chahal.
The middle-order batsman has been in good run since coming to India, scoring a half century and a ton in the warm up games and following up with a century in the first ODI.
“I am not too sure (about the secret to success). We had a lot of preparation back home, coming out of the winter, when we come to India, it is obviously massive focus on spin and we lucky enough to be here last year, so we knew a little bit how India played and watching them against the Australian team, so lot of work in terms of spin and playing in the middle.
“I put little bit of work in terms of coming over here and playing spin. On surfaces back home they were a little bit drier and quite responsive to spin. So, that was (a part) of the preparation,” he said.
The Kiwis are on the cusp of winning their first series in India and Latham feels that they have a chance to do that.
