Cricket: Can the Black Caps create further history in India?

India will look to avoid a rare series defeat at home when they meet New Zealand in the third and final Test of the series in Mumbai on Friday and head coach Gautam Gambhir said his team must rise to the challenge.

The Black Caps tormented the hosts with pace and beat them by eight wickets in Bengaluru for their first Test win in India in 36 years. They ended the series in Pune with a 113-run win by the spinners.

It was New Zealand’s first win in India in 1955 and the Black Caps ended the hosts’ proud home run of 18 straight series wins since their 2-1 defeat to England 12 years ago.

The last time India lost a home series was in 2000, when they lost 2-0 to South Africa, and Gambhir said his batsmen have had to adapt ahead of next month’s tour of Australia, where they will play five Tests.

No team has ever won 3-0 in India.

“We have to be able to adapt. We have to be a team that can score 400 runs a day if we need to get a result and be able to bat for two days. That’s what growth is and that’s what Test cricket is all about.” ” said Gambhir.

“Test cricket cannot be played one way at a time because it is about adapting, looking at the situation and playing according to the situation and more importantly it is about playing sessions.

“If we can start learning to play in sessions, with the quality we have in our lineup, I think if we play 4-1/2 sessions we’ll have a lot of runs on the board.”

Mitchell Santner’s 13-wicket haul in Pune exposed India’s weakness in spin bowling.

“Sometimes you have to give credit to the opposition. I thought Mitchell Santner was outstanding in the last game. We will continue to work hard and get better. The boys are putting yards in the net,” Gambhir added.

“At the end of the day, when you play international cricket, results are important, but I don’t think our spin skills have really declined.

“It’s about working hard and getting better.”

New Zealand captain Tom Latham said the team was looking forward to making the sweep.

“We’ve done a lot of good things in the last couple of weeks, but I think for us in every Test match you focus on trying to win the key points, not necessarily focusing on the result,” Latham said. .

“It’s a byproduct of putting things together in a row, having good sessions in a row. This is a different step, and these are different conditions.”

-Reuters