New Zealand fast bowler Doug Bracewell has admitted that India is one of the toughest places to tour. And one can say that he is quite right. The likes of Australia and South Africa have been thrashed by the Indian team in recent times. While the Aussies were blanked 4-0 by the hosts, the South African team was humiliated by 3-0. And so it is quite clear that the New Zealand team will have to play out of their skin if they want to improve their dismal record in India.
“There is probably no harder place to tour than India,” Bracewell said on Wednesday (September 14). “Every tour the boys are pretty fizzed up, especially Day 1 and Day 2, the boys are quite fresh. Day 1 is always good to have a runaround and get out of the hotel after a couple of long days travelling.”
The visitors have won only two of their 31 Test matches in India. Their last Test victory in India came way back in November 1988 in Mumbai when they defeated the hosts by 136 runs.Bracewell, on his part, admitted that playing against India on their own patch would be a huge challenge and they need to acclimatise to the conditions quickly. “It’s always going to be a big challenge for us, the boys are pretty fizzed up and looking forward to getting stuck in.”
The pacer said that the upcoming series will be a big challenge for his team.
“It’s always going to be a big challenge for us, the boys are pretty fizzed up and looking forward to getting stuck in.”
The visitors are currently undergoing a training session in Delhi. Weather is one of the toughest factors for the visiting teams but Bracewell said that his team is ready to tackle the “pretty hot” weather.
“If I was to guess the temperature, it would be somewhere between 30 and 40, obviously first run around and the boys are sweating it up. It’s pretty hot. Losing a lot of fluid, you obviously sweat a lot, and sometimes you think you are drinking enough but you’re probably not. The most important thing is staying on top of your drinking with how much water you’re taking in,” said the pacer.
The three-match Test series will start from September 22 at Kanpur.