'Stay calm': New Zealand coach impressed by India's young pacers, tells batters to adapt to tough pitches
toi
newspoint|09-11-2026
NEW DELHI: New Zealand batting coach Luke Ronchi has been impressed by India's inexperienced pace attack, which has repeatedly troubled the home batters in the ongoing ODI series, but believes the key to surviving on challenging surfaces is adaptability rather than an obsession with scoring rates.
India's quartet of Arshdeep Singh , Auqib Nabi , Anshul Kamboj and Gurnoor Brar have accounted for 17 of New Zealand's 20 wickets across the first two ODIs, with the hosts being bowled out for 185 and 134 respectively.
With the third ODI approaching, Ronchi praised the young Indian bowlers for their ability to adjust their lengths and lines to conditions that have offered assistance to fast bowlers.
"Yeah, they've been really good. They're asking questions of batters and it'll be quite 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," the former New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter said.
Ronchi impressed by India's young pace attack
Ronchi was particularly impressed by how India's young fast bowlers have adapted to conditions after spending considerable time bowling on flatter subcontinental pitches.
"They are so used to bowling on flat wickets, it's realising what is the right length, what's the right line, the ball is swinging a bit (and) how do we bowl the way we want to bowl to make it hard for the batters."
"They've done that really well and they've challenged our batters and taken wickets early and made different impacts in different games, so it's exciting to see when you see younger guys come into the game and perform and try and push their case to be playing more and more and more," he added.
The bowling-friendly conditions have also provided both teams with valuable preparation ahead of the two-Test series beginning November 19.
"Technically, yeah, they will (prepare better) because that's traditionally what we have here for Test cricket, it's a lot greener surfaces," Ronchi said. "In reality, that Wellington surface was more of a Test type of surface, so it's grasping hold of that and realising that, and it will help both teams."
'Stay calm': Ronchi's advice to batters
Ronchi believes batters need to understand that challenging pitches demand a different approach and that scoring rates cannot always remain the priority.
"At the moment, it's quite cool; 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 make 400 you're in trouble, so it's just ridiculous."
He added that bowlers deserve assistance from conditions and that both sides have made good use of it.
"The other night, if either team had made 200 batting first, that would have been a massive score, so it's realising that okay, for 10 overs you might be going at two, three (runs) an over, you're actually still going okay."
Ronchi stressed that staying composed and assessing conditions was crucial, particularly with pitches likely to vary across venues.
"It's just trying to stay calm and realise the adaptability of what you need to do in those moments, but they're always continuing conversations because again, tomorrow it might be an amazing wicket and then again, we go to Mount Maunganui , it's a different wicket again," he said.
India's quartet of Arshdeep Singh , Auqib Nabi , Anshul Kamboj and Gurnoor Brar have accounted for 17 of New Zealand's 20 wickets across the first two ODIs, with the hosts being bowled out for 185 and 134 respectively.
With the third ODI approaching, Ronchi praised the young Indian bowlers for their ability to adjust their lengths and lines to conditions that have offered assistance to fast bowlers.
"Yeah, they've been really good. They're asking questions of batters and it'll be quite 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," the former New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter said.
Ronchi impressed by India's young pace attack
Ronchi was particularly impressed by how India's young fast bowlers have adapted to conditions after spending considerable time bowling on flatter subcontinental pitches.
"They are so used to bowling on flat wickets, it's realising what is the right length, what's the right line, the ball is swinging a bit (and) how do we bowl the way we want to bowl to make it hard for the batters."
"They've done that really well and they've challenged our batters and taken wickets early and made different impacts in different games, so it's exciting to see when you see younger guys come into the game and perform and try and push their case to be playing more and more and more," he added.
The bowling-friendly conditions have also provided both teams with valuable preparation ahead of the two-Test series beginning November 19.
"Technically, yeah, they will (prepare better) because that's traditionally what we have here for Test cricket, it's a lot greener surfaces," Ronchi said. "In reality, that Wellington surface was more of a Test type of surface, so it's grasping hold of that and realising that, and it will help both teams."
'Stay calm': Ronchi's advice to batters
Ronchi believes batters need to understand that challenging pitches demand a different approach and that scoring rates cannot always remain the priority.
"At the moment, it's quite cool; 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 make 400 you're in trouble, so it's just ridiculous."
He added that bowlers deserve assistance from conditions and that both sides have made good use of it.
"The other night, if either team had made 200 batting first, that would have been a massive score, so it's realising that okay, for 10 overs you might be going at two, three (runs) an over, you're actually still going okay."
Ronchi stressed that staying composed and assessing conditions was crucial, particularly with pitches likely to vary across venues.
"It's just trying to stay calm and realise the adaptability of what you need to do in those moments, but they're always continuing conversations because again, tomorrow it might be an amazing wicket and then again, we go to Mount Maunganui , it's a different wicket again," he said.
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