New Zealand hopes that the Pune pitch may be useful to them.

Tom Latham and Rachin Ravindra have faith in their team's adaptability, but they do n't want to enter the game with" too many preconceived ideas"

The talk of a gradual, clean, black-soil surface on the Pune pitch has been minimized by New Zealand, but it could also benefit the visitors ' spinners if the weather turns out to be intense and the ball turns round right away. On the day of the following Check against India at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, their captain, Tom Latham, has said this.

" I guess whatever we're presented with, it's about, for us, trying to adapt as quick as we can, that's something that we ca n't control with the wicket", Latham said. " So it's about trying to go out there and adjust as fast as we can, and if it's going to be a wicket that turns a little bit more, then we've naturally got four spinner in our line-up, but fingers crossed that may play into their arms, but yeah, as I said, it's about trying to react on the run, and try not to go into the sport with too many preconceived tips".

Allrounder Rachin Ravindra, who is among New Zealand's roll possibilities, agreed with his captain. When Pune had served up a strong smith in 2017, it had backfired on India, with left-arm fingerspinner Steve O'Keefe spinning Australia to win inside three times. O'Keefe took 12 innings, which was as numerous as R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja combined.

" If it's an extraordinary innings, it about brings us into the sport more", Ravindra said. " If you win the shove, all of a sudden you take a couple of innings and you're straight into the sport on a wicket that's very savory and turns a bit. As a team, it's about accepting what's in front of us. We ca n't change that. We ca n't control what wicket they're going to roll out.

" But we can manage our perspective, how we approach it, and each and every place we get into with the pitcher or continuity with the game. We're excited for the issue, whatever it may be."

In the first innings of the first Test in Bengaluru, New Zealand did n't need any of them with the ball because the field was seaming. Instead, they had three. Their task, however, could be much heavier across both wickets in Pune. New Zealand are also available to selecting an further spin in place of a bowler if the problems dictate the need for it. Offspin-bowling allrounder Michael Bracewell has returned home for the birth of his second child, but they have other options in Mitchell Santner ( left-arm fingerspinner ) and Ish Sodhi ( wristspinner ).

" Yeah, I certainly had a little bit of a think around what that]the playing XI] does look like, but we'll make those last decisions after I speak to you men, Latham said. " But yeah, as I said, it's just about trying to make sure we adapt as best we can, and try to get a little bit of knowledge from past games here, and also the process wickets that we're on may finally get something around, or related to what we're getting, so I think that's the beauty of our team, is trying not to go into the sport with too many preconceived ideas, and trying to make sure we adapt as best we can".

Latham also reflected on Bengaluru's success fondly, notching up the only New Zealander to lead the team to a Test victory there. However, he quickly turned his attention to Pune, where New Zealand hope to improve and win the series.

" Yeah, obviously very special, I guess to be… there's myself, Graham Dowling and John Wright, to be in this position is really special, Latham said". But for me it was a team effort, it was n't just me that obviously contributed to the win, you know, the guys did a fantastic job, and obviously that was last week, we obviously celebrated what was a special performance.

" But our attention turned quickly to this game, and we're trying not to, I guess, rest on what happened last week, as trying to take the confidence from last week, and take that into this game, and hopefully hit the ground running".