WELLINGTON, Feb 20: New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson on Thursday said his team will rely on its tried and tested patient approach to tackle the Indian pace battery of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma in the Test series starting here on Friday.
Williamson said it will be �a lot different� to facing Australian speedsters in their own den. New Zealand are still reeling from a 0-3 thrashing in their last away Test series in Australia where Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc made life miserable for the Black Caps batsmen.
Asked how different it will be facing a quality Indian pace attack at home, Williamson replied: �A lot of differences I suppose, the conditions being the first one.�
�India have a world-class pace attack that has performed in all conditions so a really exciting opportunity for our team.�
Williamson said the Kiwis will be going back to their style of patient cricket which has yielded results at home since 2017.
�So it is peeling it back. Obviously coming back here from Australia, back into Test cricket, the guys are really looking forward to get into it,� Williamson said.
�It�s taking some learnings from that. But it�s in some ways trying to peel back, (that�s) the style of cricket we play in New Zealand and (we will) connect with that again,� he added.
The Basin Reserve pitch, at least on the first two days, has a lot of juice and Williamson was asked if India�s batting line-up would be vulnerable in these conditions.
�I think if you can execute your plans on a surface that�s going to provide some assistance then it�s a challenge for anybody,� he explained. � PTI
