Image Credit- ICC
After the chaos of the World Cup, Daryl Mitchell is
looking forward to some calm time as New Zealand resumes Test cricket in Sylhet
after an eight-month absence. In addition, it will be Bangladesh’s and New
Zealand’s first Test in the World Test Championship’s third cycle. Mitchell is
returning from a successful World Cup campaign in which he scored two hundreds,
both against India.
“A bit more patience is required going from white
ball to Test cricket,” Mitchell said. “You can breathe and relax a
little bit. The surfaces are turning. We will keep adapting. We will see what
we get on day one.
“It is always special to play in that tournament
in front of millions of people. It is also about recognising what an
opportunity we have here at the start of the World Test Championship. How much
it means to wear that baggy with the silver fern on.”
He also said that New Zealand are focussing on
short-term goals rather than thinking about the ultimate goal of reaching the
WTC final.
“We obviously know it is the end goal,”
Mitchell said. “That’s what every country taking part in the World Test
Championship wants to do. For us, it is about making small goals. Trying to
tick off games as we go. First, we have to take on Bangladesh. It is always a
tough challenge in Bangladesh.
“Conditions are foreign to us as Kiwis so it is
about adapting as quickly as we can to these surfaces, and getting stuck to win
little moments. It is what we are speaking about. We are not looking too far
ahead. At the same time, you want to be part of those big games. That’s why you
play Test cricket.”
Although both sets of players will be unfamiliar with
the conditions, Sylhet has only staged one Test before. However, according to
New Zealand coach Luke Ronchi, his team has honed their talents on the
sub-continent. This is true even though New Zealand’s last Test match in
Bangladesh took place in 2013.
“Ten years is a long, long time,” Ronchi
said. “That’s when Ish Sodhi made his Test debut. Some of the guys were
young so their style of play would have changed a lot. We played a lot of
cricket in the sub-continent. We have toured Pakistan as well. The guys have
their own tactics to play around the world.
“You can see the reverse-sweep coming into it a
lot more now. It makes life difficult for bowlers. But that’s how guys want to
play. They need to adapt to that surface whichever way they think is the best
way for them to score.”