‘Keep calm’: New Zealand coach impressed by young Indian pacers tells batsmen to adapt to tough pitch

NEW DELHI: New Zealand batting coach Luke Ronchi has been impressed with India’s inexperienced pace attack that has repeatedly troubled the home batsmen in the ongoing ODI series, but believes adaptability rather than obsession with scoring is the key to surviving on tough surfaces.India’s back four of Arshdeep Singh, Auqib Nabi, Anshul Kamboj and Gurnoor Brar accounted for 17 of New Zealand’s 20 wickets in the first two ODIs as the hosts were bowled out for 185 and 134 respectively.With the third ODI looming, Ronchi praised the young Indian bowlers for their ability to adapt their lengths and lines to the conditions that offered help to the fast bowlers.“Yeah, they’ve been really good. They’re asking the batsmen and it’s going to be pretty cool for them. They’re going into games where the ball isn’t flying around, the ball is actually assisting them and then they’ll be happy with that,” said the former New Zealand batsman.

Ronchi impressed with India’s young pace attack

Ronchi was particularly impressed with how India’s young fast bowlers adapted to the conditions after spending considerable time bowling on flatter subcontinental pitches.“They are so used to bowling on flat wickets, they realize what the right length is, what the right line is, the ball swings a bit (and) how we play the way we want to make it difficult for the batsmen.”“They did really well and attacked our batting early and took wickets and had different impacts in different games, so it’s exciting to see the younger guys come in and perform and try to push themselves to play more and more,” he added.The bowling-friendly conditions also provided both teams with valuable preparation ahead of the two-Test series starting on November 19.“Technically yes, they will (prepare better) because that’s traditionally what we have here for Test cricket, it’s much greener surfaces,” Ronchi said. “Actually, the Wellington surface was more of a testing type of surface, so you have to take that and realize that and it will help both teams.”

‘Keep calm’: Ronchi’s advice to batsmen

Ronchi believes batsmen need to understand that challenging pitches require a different approach and that scoring cannot always remain a priority.“It’s pretty cool at the moment; the bowlers have actually got the upper hand so there’s nothing wrong with that. Traditionally you go around the world, especially in India, if teams don’t get to 400 you’re in trouble so it’s just ridiculous.”He added that the bowlers deserved help from the conditions and that both sides took full advantage of it.“Last night, if one of the teams had hit 200 first, that would have been a huge score, so we realize, OK, at 10 overs, you could go two, three (runs) per over, actually you’re still going.Ronchi emphasized that staying composed and assessing the conditions is essential, especially with pitches that are likely to vary from place to place.“They’re just trying to stay calm and realize the adaptability of what you’ve got to do in those moments, but they always keep talking because again, tomorrow it could be an amazing goal and then again, we go to Mount Maunganui, it’s another goal,” he said.