New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson, yesterday, during a presser in Delhi, showered praises on the Indian Test captain Virat Kohli admiring his ability to dominate in all formats of the game. The New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson said “Virat Kohli’s a great player. His ability to dominate the way he does across formats is something very special and certainly something that I admire. I love watching him play and you can learn a lot from a player like that.”
Kane Williamson admitted that Indian team is not an easy team to beat at home and the tour will be a tough contest for them but he was hopeful of a good show in the series especially from spinners and said “We have our three very good spinners as well. It should be a good contest. We know it will be a challenge. India in their home is one of the toughest challenges in the game, particularly in the Test format. So the team are excited to get involved and look to adapt, having come from South Africa, Zimbabwe where conditions are quite different,”
“The IPL is a fantastic experience. A number of guys on this side have been a part of that for a few years and no doubt that will help, although the format is different. We will have to prepare well. The pitches here in the last year or so have been different to the one that we have played in the IPL. So we will need to take that into account,” Williamson added when asked about his IPL experience.
On being asked regarding the Steve Smith and Joe Root, Williamson decided to play it safe and had a smart answer to the question “You mentioned the other names- Steve Smith and Joe Root. Both are great players as well. They are different players and have different strengths. Trying to stick to their own game plans and that I suppose that is the beauty of the game that everyone can do it differently and have some success,” said Williamson 3 days prior to the first practise game against Mumbai Ranji team.
As per the schedule, New Zealand team has arrived in India on September 11 and will play first practice match on September 16 against Mumbai Ranji team at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium.
New Zealand will kick-off Test series from September 22; the first Test will be played in Green Park which will host Test cricket after a gap of six years. Both the teams will fly to Kolkata for the second Test which begins on September 30.
The third and final Test match will be played in Holkar stadium, from October 8, in Madhya Pradesh. Holker stadium will make a debut in Test cricket. Five ODI matches series will follow the Test series. The Kiwis will announce the squad for ODI series later.
New Zealand last toured India in the year 2012 to play a two-match Test series and the same number of T20Is. Indian team won both the Test matches whereas the New Zealand team continued its winning streak against India in T20Is.