Chahal and Kuldeep will be our main focus, Kiwi opener Tom Latham

New Zealand opener Tom Latham suggested tackling Yuzvendra Chahal and Kuldeep Yadav will remain their primary focus in the upcoming series. The Blackcaps will be locking horns with India in a limited overs tour and it’ll be interesting to see how will Williamson’s troops fare against the high flying Indians.

Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin got sidelined from the limited overs fixtures recently with the resurgence of youngsters like Kuldeep, Axar Patel, and Chahal, they seem to be a long distance away from being considered for selection. The youngsters have grabbed the opportunities with both hands and started terrorizing batsmen with their skills.

Latham, son of former Kiwi batsman Rod Latham, has been batting down the order these days. Usually an opener, Latham has been batting at number 5 and he says it’s more of a mental shift. “It is probably a more of a mental shift than technical. I guess it is about sticking to your game plan. The ball is not as quite as new but, on the other hand, there are more gaps and I guess it is more tactical and mental switch as against anything else,” said Latham at the post-match press conference.

Our main focus is on spin

Latham suggested their team will be focusing more on tackling the spinners. “Our focus is big on spin here. We are focussing on facing more spin than seam here and finding ways to score, to hit gaps and find boundaries. That’s probably the biggest thing coming over here,” said the left-handed batsman.

“Playing against a couple of left armers and the leggie (Karn Sharma) today was an ideal preparation. Whatever we need we can get, stuff from the footage and that sort of things. We obviously know that they (Kuldeep and Chahal) are quality bowlers and they have done really well in the previous series,” Latham added.

Indian fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat had a brilliant outing in the practice game, spanking a 44 in just 24 balls. He said this do a world of good for his confidence. “I was batting well since the last two seasons in domestic cricket. But I have got the confidence and I am happy that it is coming on in the bigger stage. Today’s knock will boost my confidence,” Unadkat said.

“I will definitely be looking to add that dimension (of batting) to my game because that is what is the need of the hour, a bowler who can bat and slog well is always beneficial for the team,” he added.