Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 7 : New Zealand pacer Matt Henry expressed his thoughts on his side's historic Test series win against India, saying that he would not call the win a "surprise" and the side was prepared well for the challenge to beat India in their own home conditions.
Henry was speaking on the sidelines of the CEAT Cricket Rating Awards in Mumbai on Tuesday.
Last year, New Zealand did the unthinkable, ending India's 12-year dominant run at home, handing them a series loss and that too, a painful whitewash, a first-time for India at home.
New Zealand came into the series as wounded lions, facing a humiliating loss during the tour of Sri Lanka in Tests by 2-0. New Zealand series, under Tom Latham's captaincy, started a rough period of Test cricket for Team India and the team suffered a loss to Australia. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Ravichandran Ashwin also retired from Test cricket.
While spinners Ajaz Patel (15) and Mitchell Santner (13) outspun their Indian counterparts and flipped India's home advantage on its head, Henry also took 10 wickets in two matches at an average of over 15, with best figures of 5/15. This spell of five wickets came during the first Bengaluru Test during which pacers wreaked havoc on India after it rained, bundling them out for just 46 in the first innings.
Speaking during the awards, Matt said, "I would not say it is a surprise. And it was something that we were prepared for. I think having that tour in Sri Lanka leading into the Test Series gave us a lot of confidence around how we want to play the game and getting used to spin-friendly conditions and how to put bowling attacks under pressure and vice versa, how we can put teams under pressure. So, yeah, it was a memorable series for us."
"I mean, to come here and not only win a series but 3-0 is pretty amazing and it was pretty special for New Zealand cricket," he added.
Henry is also excited for a white-ball series of three ODIs and five T20Is against India starting from January 11 next year.
"I think the timing of that series is really important as well. We've obviously got a World Cup (T20 World Cup next year in India and Sri Lanka) coming up as well. So being able to, I suppose, come back over to Indian conditions and it is an important part of our World Cup journey as well before obviously India Sri Lanka hosts the World Cup," he said.
The pacer is extremely excited at the idea of bowling to number one T20I batter Abhishek Sharma, who had a breakout Asia Cup with a 'Player of the Tournament' winning outing of 314 runs in six innings at an average of 44.00, strike rate of 200 and three fifties. Over last few years, the Punjabi hitter has been a consistent performer in domestic cricket and Indian Premier League (IPL) as well for Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), forming a formidable opening pair with Australian star Travis Head.
Henry said that in last few years, scores have gone up and batters have become more fearless in the IPL and in T20s and it is more important than ever to bowl teams out.
"It seems to be a common trend with the batters, is not it? (aggressive hitting) they are coming in really hard, which is, I suppose you've seen that in IPL in the last few years, the scores and the way that batters are going about the game, that fearless approach. And I think it is going across the board as well."
"So it is keeping us bowlers on the toes. But I think the great thing is it provides opportunities for bowlers. So being able to bowl teams out is really important. I think that has probably shown that taking wickets is super important to stop those types of players," he added.
Henry hailed the depth of India's T20I talent pool, saying that they would be one of the teams to beat during the World Cup next year.
"The depth of that India Cricket in T20s is incredible really and you see it in the IPL and the people that are coming out and doing incredible things. And you have got to cross the board in the bowling department as well as with the bats. So, no doubt it is going to be a very strong side and obviously they will be one of the teams to beat," he said.
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