New Zealand’s (NZ) historic 3-0 series whitewash against India has been met with high praise, particularly for the leadership of new captain Tom Latham. Former New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond commended Latham’s captaincy, crediting both his individual performance and the foundation laid by former captain Tim Southee. “Great start to your captaincy reign! I think you’ve got to pay some credit to Tim Southee, who was magnanimous enough to step down and say, ‘look, it’s someone else’s time’, and Tom would have reaped the rewards of a lot of the work that Tim’s done over the last few years. But I know Latham’s a very good captain, good man, and good leader. I thought the innings he played in the Pune Test was the best innings I’ve seen him play, leading from the front,” Bond said, as quoted by ESPNcricinfo.
Bond also highlighted the strategic changes that contributed to New Zealand’s success in India. He pointed out the importance of having versatile bowlers like Glenn Phillips and Rachin Ravindra, who have developed their spin bowling to add depth to the team’s attack.
“I think New Zealand have come to India this time with part-time spin bowlers. In the past, we’ve had the part-time medium-pace bowlers. And now when you look at someone like Glenn Phillips, who has really worked hard over the last four years to develop his bowling, even Rachin Ravindra… just having those options has allowed New Zealand to have much more depth in the spin-bowling department and that’s led to having depth in their batting, which has really helped them,” Bond explained.
Reflecting on the overall achievement, Bond expressed his delight and acknowledged the significance of the series win, particularly after the team’s recent performance in Sri Lanka.
“Delight is the first reaction. New Zealand coming off the back of that series in Sri Lanka where they played pretty well, probably could have won the first Test, but lost the series 2-0. I don’t think anyone, anywhere, especially at home, thought we could win this series, let alone a 3-0 sweep. I gave a little fist pump when Ajaz [Patel] went through the gate to get that last wicket [of Washington Sundar] and I’m absolutely delighted for the players, for Gary [Stead], the head coach,” Bond said.
“It’s always nice to see history created and for a team like New Zealand to beat India and become the first team to sweep them in a three-match series at home is something pretty remarkable,” Bond added.
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