India vs New Zealand: You may find us playing three spinners, says Black Caps coach Gary Stead

Stead
also
feels
that
their
two-Test
series
against
India
wont
feature
the
kind
of
tracks
that
England
got
in
Ahmedabad
during
their
series
against
Virat
Kohlis
men.

“You
have
to
look
and
realise
how
teams
come
here
often
and
dont
win.
Thats
the
enormity
of
obvious
challenge,”
Stead
said
during
a
media
conference
outlining
what
playing
Test
matches
in
India
mean.

“The
traditional
way
of
playing
four
seamers
and
one
part-time
spinner
cant
be
the
way
to
go
over
here.
You
may
see
three
spinners
playing
in
this
game
and
that
will
be
decided
once
we
have
a
look
at
the
surface,”
Stead
said
while
making
it
clear
that
Mumbai-born
left-arm
spinner
Ajaz
Patel
looks
like
a
sure-shot
starter.

India
vs
New
Zealand:
Excited
spinner
Ajaz
Patel
ready
for
challenge

Stead
said
while
basic
tenets
of
Test
cricket
is
the
same,
the
approach
has
to
change
depending
on
conditions.

“From
our
perspective,
we
have
to
change
the
way
we
play
but
also
sticking
to
some
of
the
key
principles
of
Test
cricket.
We
will
try
to
be
competitive
for
long
long
periods
of
time.”

Asked
if
he
would
speak
to
the
groundsmen
considering
what
happened
during
the
last
home
Tests
that
India
played
against
England,
the
coach
cheekily
replied:
“I
dont
think
I
really
get
to
have
a
say
in
that.”

On
a
serious
note,
he
said
that
England
series
was
a
different
ball
game
due
to
multiple
Test
matches
at
the
same
venue.

“Look,
there’s
no
doubt
those
were
challenging
conditions
but
difference
is
that
we
have
two
Tests
at
two
different
venues
and
they
(England)
were
playing
multiple
Tests
at
the
same
ground
(two
in
Chennai
and
two
in
Ahmedabad).”

“We
know
there
will
be
differences
as
in
Kanpur
you
will
have
black
clay
and
in
Wankhede,
you
will
have
red
clay.
These
are
certain
adaptations
that
we
have
to
make,”
the
coach
explained.

Stead
wasn’t
too
fussy
about
lack
of
practice
games
as
even
India
hasn’t
played
Tests
of
late
since
they
came
from
England.

“In
this
Covid
world,
it
is
difficult
to
get
practice
games
but
India
is
also
coming
on
the
back
of
T20s
and
is
on
a
similar
boat
to
what
we
are.”

That’s
the
reason
why
Trent
Boult’s
absence
won’t
be
a
factor
as
even
India
would
be
missing
regular
skipper
Virat
Kohli
(first
Test)
along
with
Rohit
Sharma,
Rishabh
Pant,
Jasprit
Bumrah
and
Mohammed
Shami,
who
have
been
rested
for
both
games
due
to
workload
management.