Will Young was in dominant form as New Zealand whitewashed India 3-0 in their recently concluded three-match Test series. Having been a reserve batter for New Zealand for most of his international career, it was supposed to be the same in New Zealand’s subcontinent Test Tour. In Sri Lanka, Young was on drinks duty But after an injury to Kane Williamson, Young got his chance, and punished India with much aplomb.
To make it better for his resume, he dominated India in India, with his attacking approach and registered 244 runs. He was the series’ third-highest run-scorer and his side’s second-highest. He hogged the spotlight with his sweep and reverse sweep shots. At the end, he was adjudged as the Player of the Series.
Will Young on facing India
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Young spoke about how he adapted to the conditions in India, especially when he had to face R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar.
“We toured here in 2021 and we had a two-Test match series, in Kanpur and Mumbai, and the batting group that’s here is largely the same as the one three years ago,” he said.
“So I suppose if you look at it with a wider lens, you can say that we’ve been learning since then. There’s been lots of tours to the subcontinent, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and even some spinning surfaces at home at times. We were always keen to learn and adapt and grow as batsmen.”
Young had an aggressive approach towards Jadeja, which also challenged Rohit’s fielding strategy. Speaking on his battle, he said, “It was just this one particular passage of play [in Mumbai] where Jadeja had brought mid-off up. Most of the series he’d had him back because he was quite comfortable for the right-handers to try to push the ball into the off side and bring the slips into play. But this particular passage of play, Jadeja and Rohit had decided to bring mid-off up.”
“And I just felt that if the ball was full enough, I could try to reach it and smother the spin and get it over the top straight. And I had a chat to Daryl Mitchell about it in between overs and he said, “Yeah, mate, just back yourself.””
“He said make sure you stay down through the shot or something along those lines. He’s obviously very good at it [hitting down the ground] himself. So when the opportunity arose, I took it and then the fielder went back and I could keep on playing from there,” he added.
New Zealand defeated India by 25 runs in the third and final Test in Mumbai. The result saw India get whitewashed in a home series of three or more Tests at home for the first time in history. New Zealand also became the fourth side to whitewash India in a series of three-plus Tests after England (4), Australia (3) and West Indies (1).
