‘Everyone has shown the ability to beat everyone else’: Gary Stead warns New Zealand not to take home advantage for granted

Shreyas Iyer, Mitchell Santner BENGALURU: Home advantage is losing its luster in international cricket, with teams increasingly equipped to defeat opponents in their own backyard. Former head coach Gary Stead believes that hosts New Zealand may not enjoy the advantage they once had when India began their tour with the T20 series starting on Thursday, with a better pace attack and ability to adapt to demanding conditions, making them a formidable opponent.The 54-year-old, who oversaw a successful phase of New Zealand cricket, including a Test World Cup triumph, said the days of exploiting an opponent’s perceived weakness were fading.“You used to play in India and you were like, ‘Oh, we’re going to do a green track because they don’t have good seamstresses.’ Now they also have quality seamstresses,” said Stead.Referring to New Zealand’s 3-0 triumph in the 2024 Test series in India, he added: “Equally, when we came in 2024, we also had quality spinners. The whole idea of ​​home advantage has kind of disappeared in the world. Everyone has shown the ability to beat everyone else at any given moment. So you have to be on your game and be sharp.”Stead, currently the head coach of Andhra’s Ranji Trophy team, believes India’s ability to adapt to New Zealand’s bouncy surfaces will be crucial to their chances.“Indians will have to adapt to bounce wickets, one of the most prevalent in the world. They will bounce and carry the wickets. If the Indian bowlers can nullify the New Zealand bowlers, then I think it will be a breakthrough series,” he said.Test matches in particular could present the toughest challenge. Stead pointed to Christchurch’s Hagley Oval and Wellington’s Basin Reserve as venues traditionally known for their extraordinary bounce.“It’s very important for New Zealand. India is obviously an amazing Test side and then we go to Australia and play, so New Zealand has six massive Tests coming up. But if you want to be judged against the best, you have to compete with the best,” he said.With Australia and South Africa also producing compelling Test cricket in recent times, Stead believes the influence of T20 cricket is becoming more visible in the longest format.“I think the T20 format has allowed the players a bit more freedom in the way they play. And I think that’s not playing Test cricket now either,” he said.Stead also called on the International Cricket Council (ICC) to explore more multi-format series, arguing that longer tours could help sustain interest across formats.“I personally think the ICC should consider playing more multi-format series. Rather than teams coming and going very quickly and people forgetting about the series, it could be a bit like the women’s Ashes where they have multi-format scenarios. I really think it’s something that could take off,” he said.However, he admitted that fitting a longer tour into an increasingly crowded international calendar will be difficult as teams constantly prepare for the next World Cup in one of the two white-ball formats.