India a great place to learn the art of playing spin, says SRH batsman Martin Guptill

New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill may find it challenging to find a berth in Sunrisers Hyderabad’s (SRH) playing XI for there is already bumper-to-bumper traffic in the franchise’s batting lineup but that hasn’t seen the former sitting idle. The 32-year-old is eyeing the ICC World Cup that follows the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2019 and particularly using the opportunity to hone his spin-playing skills.

Guptill made a comeback to international cricket after a while in the home series against India last month. However, though he did not do anything special in that series, he made an impact in the series against Bangladesh that followed, hitting two back-to-back ODI centuries. The man, who finished as the highest scorer in the 2015 World Cup and smashed a double hundred in that tournament, is preparing for yet another good WC.

As part of that, he is playing Afghanistan spinner Rashid Khan, his mate in the SRH, at the nets. New Zealand will play Afghanistan in the World Cup in Taunton on June 8 and Guptill is already preparing for the showdown with the ace Afghan spinner on that occasion.

Guptill preparing for NZ-Afghanistan WC clash

“I haven’t played Rashid yet but he is an amazing bowler. It’s very hard to face him because he bowls so quick. I am looking forward to facing him in the nets because we play Afghanistan in the third game in the World Cup,” Guptill told CricketNext from Hyderabad, ahead of the SRH’s second game in IPL 12 against the Rajasthan Royals. Both teams have lost their first match in the tournament with SRH getting stunned by Andre Russell’s blitzkrieg and RR by a bizarre act called ‘Mankading’ by Kings XI Punjab skipper Ravi Ashwin.

Guptill also used the opportunity to concede that India is a great place to learn the art of playing spin, something his own country’s batsmen are not known to be generally. “I try to get into the nets against him and make some plans for him. India is great place to learn how to play spin and figuring out a few plans,” he said.

SRH is Guptill’s third team in the IPL after Mumbai Indians and Kings XI Punjab.

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