Picking ball that doesn’t turn biggest test in India: Guptill

The biggest challenge for the New Zealand batters on their upcoming Test tour of India will be picking the turning ball and more so the odd one that skids through, reckons former Black Caps opener Martin Guptill.

The finalists of the inaugural World Test Championship, India and New Zealand will face off in three Tests to be played at Bengaluru, Pune and Mumbai from October 16.

“You feel like you can never score, that’s the hardest thing about coming here to India. The ball’s turning square, then the same sort of ball comes through and it skids on straight. You never know which one’s going to turn and which one’s going to go straight, so you have to always be thinking, you have to always be mentally on song and on (top of) your game,” Guptill said on the sidelines of the Legends League Cricket.

Guptill highlighted the importance of pressing on the advantage against India who have won their last 17 series at home.

“To try and get on top of India is extremely difficult. But when you feel like you are, you have to try and take that as long as possible in the game,” he said. “It’s a tough place to play. It’s hot, sweaty and you feel like everything’s against you. But as I said, if you can try and get on top of them and you feel like you are getting on top of them, you’ve got to try and go as deep as possible in the game,” added the former opener.