Black Cap Tom Latham has recovered from a broken finger and is now crossing his fingers for an ODI series win against India.
Tom Latham Photo: www.photosport.nz
Latham takes on the captaincy role for the three-match series which starts in Hamilton today as Kane Williamson misses the series with a shoulder injury.
Latham last skippered the ODI team against Bangladesh in Dunedin a year ago and said he would not be changing too much this time around.
"For us it is about trying to keep doing the same things we'd be doing if Kane was here and fingers crossed he can get that shoulder right and he'll be back as soon as soon as possible," Latham said.
"It's important that we don't try and reinvent the wheel and try change our style of play, we've been playing some good one day cricket of late and obviously it was a few months ago that this side was together but for us it's important that we try to stick to the things that we do well then hopefully that will give us a good chance."
India's captain Virat Kohli expected the Black Caps to be just as competitive without Williamson.
Auckland left-handed batsman Mark Chapman joined the team as a replacement.
Photo: PHOTOSPORT
"Kane has done it so many times you know what he can do, but someone who gets a chance will definitely want to prove himself and the team will look forward to how he reacts under pressure."
India had injury concerns with opening batsman Rohit Sharma ruled out of the rest of the tour of New Zealand after suffering a calf strain in the final T20.
Mayank Agarwal is Rohit's replacement in the squad.
"[Whoever] steps in it's a chance for that guy to experience this kind of pressure and this kind of expectation and for us as a side to see who are the guys that cope with it."
The Black Caps have not won a match this year and Latham who missed the 5-0 loss in the T20 series said the ODIs was a fresh start for the team.
"We've got some new faces in the group which haven't played [India] before which is exciting, so fingers crossed we can come here with the right attitude and have fun and play our brand of cricket and hopefully we come out on the right side.
"I think winning can be a habit and unfortunately we've been on the wrong side of those results which has been disappointing, but I guess the beauty is we've been putting ourselves in those situations where we can win the game and for us that is an important thing.
"The more times than not we start getting across the line then those experiences start becoming habit. Hopefully it doesn't get down to those stages in this one day series but if it does hopefully we can draw on those experiences that we've had in the T20 series and go from there."
