While India failed to challenge the hosts New Zealand in the recent ODI and Test series, the former New Zealand Head Coach Mike Hesson credited the Blackcaps for those successes. Hesson also pointed out that the Indian captain Virat Kohli’s struggle with the bat was not the only weak point for India in that tour.
Before the coronavirus started to dominate the world, India toured in New Zealand early this year. The visitors started that tour in a very positive way with the five-match T20I series victory by the 5-0 margin. But then India suffered the back-to-back whitewashes in the three-match ODI series (3-0) and two-match Test series (2-0). In the Test series, India failed to put the challenging fights in both the Test matches.
The New Zealand conditions were challenging for everybody: Mike Hesson
Though Hesson thought that India were the best side to travel to New Zealand, the former Kiwi coach felt that the conditions during the Test series were too challenging for the visitors.
Hesson told the Mumbai Mirror, “I thought India is probably the best equipped to have traveled to New Zealand, but the conditions were challenging. They weren’t ridiculous in any means, and they were challenging in both games (in the two Tests which India lost).
“The New Zealand conditions were challenging for everybody, especially in the first innings. Things certainly got easy later on. The first innings was challenging for anyone coming from overseas.”
The latest New Zealand tour was one of the worst international tours for the batsman Virat Kohli. In fact, in his Test career, it was the worst series where he played more than one Test. Though the Indian captain has maintained the top position in the ODI batting rankings, he lost the top position in the Test batting rankings, and he is now standing in the second position in this Test batting rankings.
Talking about India’s struggle in the New Zealand tour, especially in the Test series, many have raised fingers on Kohli’s batting failure. However, Hesson also reminded that Kohli wasn’t the only player to struggle in that series. Rather than, Hesson credited the New Zealand bowlers for maintaining the domination over Kohli and his boys.
Hesson added, “When the ball seams, there is very little time to adjust. You need time to adjust your technique. He certainly was not the only one (to have struggled). Also, New Zealand’s plans for Virat were exceptional. New Zealand has had the best of attacks for a long time and they challenged the Indians.”
Mike Hesson is currently the Director of cricket operations of the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB). However, due to the COVID-19 or coronavirus outbreak, the IPL 2020 has been postponed.