Courtesy: X
Kane Williamson, the former New Zealand Test captain, spoke to the media about the importance for the national team to grow as a unit in the longest format of the game. With just a couple of days remaining until the one-off Test match between Afghanistan and New Zealand in Greater Noida, Kane Williamson remarked that they last played a Test match over six months ago, which isn’t an ideal situation, but the players need to find a way to familiarise themselves to the format once again.
Notably, New Zealand are going to play six Test matches in the subcontinent in the next couple of months, starting with the one-off Test match against Afghanistan from September 9 onwards. Following that, the Blackcaps will be travelling to Sri Lanka to participate in a two-match Test series, beginning on September 18, before returning to India to play against the hosts in a three-match Test series in October.
Our last Test match was 6 or 8 months ago or something: Kane Williamson
In the build-up to the one-off Test versus Afghanistan, Kane Williamson pointed out that the New Zealand players will have to try and adjust their game. He was quoted as saying, as per Cricbuzz, “I think it's absolutely about trying to adjust your game because we're not here consistently in this format and it goes quite long without playing here. So you know it is trying to familiarise yourself again. And for us, our last Test match was 6 or 8 months ago or something. So you know as a team, it's really about connecting with that again as a red-ball group and looking to apply our skills and plans as well as we can. Obviously, it will be different.”
Kane Williamson, who is one of the most important players in the Tim Southee-led New Zealand Test team, remarked that the spinners will be playing a big role for them in the next couple of months in the subcontinent, allowing them to grow as players. He said, “Not having a lot of Test cricket here, no doubt the spinners will play a big role as they often do in this part of the world. So yeah, for us, it'll be just about adjusting as well as we can. It's really important that we look to grow as a unit.”
“It's nice and clear on how we want to play over here. We always know that it's a tough challenge whenever you play in these parts of the world, slightly different from back home. But you know it's always a great experience playing against a really, really strong side,” remarked Kane Williamson, giving props to Afghanistan ahead of their one-off Test match in a couple of days time.
