Tom Latham readies for trial by fire

BENGALURU: Captaincy is not unfamiliar territory for Tom Latham.

When New Zealand last played a Test in India - in 2021 in Mumbai - Latham stood in for an injured Kane Williamson. Since then he has stepped in for Tim Southee, who took over in 2022, on a few occasions. This series against India, coming on the back of New Zealand's 0-2 rout at the hands of Sri Lanka, will be Latham's first as full-time skipper.

Given India's enviable record at home and the Black Caps' struggle in recent times, it will be a baptism by fire for the 32-year-old.

"It's a huge, exciting privilege for me to be in this position," said Latham on the captaincy. "I've been in this position before, have captained here in India, and have done it back home as well."


New Zealand are already out of the reckoning for a World Test Championship (WTC) final berth and the absence of Kane Williamson has added to the visitors' problems.

"It's disappointing not to have Kane here. Fingers crossed, he'll be ready as soon as possible. It's disappointing when you miss a senior guy like Kane, but it gives opportunities for other guys to put their hand up," said Latham.

Will Young will be the replacement, said Latham. "Youngie will play and bat at No. 3. He's been in our squad for a long period. He's performed well in the past."

Southee, who relinquished captaincy after the debacle in Sri Lanka, has been struggling with form but could still find a place in the squad following a knee injury to Ben Sears.

"Ben Sears has been ruled out, so if we do end up going with three seamers, then obviously Tim will come right into the equation."

As India start overwhelming favourites, Latham believes his team is not low on confidence. Notwithstanding the series loss to Sri Lanka, he said there were plenty of positives which he hopes will come handy in India.

"I think that the first Test was a reasonably small margin in terms of defeat. But we did a lot of good stuff on the tour. From a batting point of view, you take away the first innings of the second Test. We changed our approach a little in terms of how we played and things unfolded. And we did that well," he added.