Beating India In Their Backyard Will Be As Big As Winning WTC Final: Devon Conway
Published - 03 Oct 2021, 12:27 AM | Updated - 23 Aug 2024, 12:57 AM
New Zealand opener Devon Conway feels that defeating India in India will be as big as the BlackCaps’ ICC World Test Championship (WTC 2021) final victory over Virat Kohli and his men. New Zealand had defeated India in the final of the first-ever WTC which was played in June in Southampton in England.
New Zealand is due to tour India after the T20 World Cup 2021 in UAE and Oman and will play two Test matches in Kanpur (25-29 November) and Mumbai (3-7 December). Before the Test matches, New Zealand will also play a series of three T20 International matches as well which will be played in Jaipur (17 November), Ranchi (19 November), and Kolkata (21 November).
Devon Conway feels that the mental toughness of facing top-class spinners on turning surfaces would also be one of the important areas they would aim to improve on during their forthcoming trip to India.
“Definitely. That’s a massive goal that we’d like to achieve. To beat India in their home conditions is probably a bigger challenge than beating them in England. It would be a serious achievement, if not as big as the World Test Championship final. That will be a very important series to try and prove that,” Conway was quoted as saying by stuff.co.nz.
“Travelling to the subcontinent and being presented with surfaces that turn, that’s where you’ve got to be really strong mentally within your defence, trust your defence, and you’ve got to have a method in which you can score. If you’re not looking to score runs you won’t be in good positions. You’ve got to nail down a plan and stick to it as much as possible, even though it’s going to be challenging,” he added.
If I Could Slot In At Four It Would Be Really Good: Devon Conway On His Place In NZ XI For T20 World Cup
New Zealand will be playing the T20 World Cup 2021 in UAE and Oman before touring India and Conway is excited to be part of the ICC mega event. Conway made a full recovery from a left middle finger injury he sustained while batting for the Southern Brave in the hundred in August.
Speaking about where he will fit in the Kiwi playing XI in the T20 World Cup, Conway said: “We’ve got Martin Guptill up top and Tim Seifert who’s done really well, and you’ve got the master, Kane Williamson, at three. If I could slot in at four it would be really good for the team’s sake, try to manipulate those middle periods against spin and run hard between the wickets.”
New Zealand has been placed in Group 2 of the Super 12s round along with Asian giants India and Pakistan, along with Afghanistan and two qualifiers from the first round. The Kiwis will play Pakistan in their opening match on October 26 in Sharjah.
