New Zealand wicketkeeper Tim Seifert praises India's young pacers

New Zealand wicketkeeper-batter Tim Seifert on Thursday highly praised India's young pacers, who have put his team in difficulty on the field. According to a report by Business Standard and Sportstar, Seifert stated that although the visiting Indian bowlers are fundamentally different from each other, they are working very well as a unit.

The Indian bowling attack includes left-arm Arshdeep Singh and relatively less internationally experienced players Anshul Kamboj, Gurnoor Brar, and Obek Nabi. These four bowlers maintained line and length extremely disciplinedly on challenging surfaces. Due to the dominant bowling of these players, the New Zealand team was bowled out for 185 and 134 in the first two ODI matches. The third match of the series could not be played due to rain, and currently, India leads this ODI series 2-0.

Speaking about the bowlers' performance before the fourth ODI to be played on Friday, Seifert said, "To be honest, they all bowl very well and each bowler bowls in a different way." He further added, "Since Arshdeep is a left-arm bowler, I feel that is very important. But they work as a unit and have not made many mistakes on the wicket in the last two matches. I feel they are working very well together."

The 33-year-old Seifert also praised these bowlers for adapting to New Zealand conditions and pitches despite having less international experience. He said, "We are playing international cricket, so it doesn't make much difference who you play against. If you play against Australia or England, they also have similar types of bowlers. Therefore, I feel, kudos to them for coming to New Zealand and adapting to these pitches."

Seifert further clarified that this is not just for praise, but they truly bowl very well. He said that in international cricket, regardless of who you play against, whether it is any team, you have to adapt to the pitch and the players.

Major changes will be seen in the Indian team for the upcoming matches. According to a report by Sportstar, Indian captain Shubman Gill and KL Rahul will not be available for the last two ODI matches. They will join the Test squad in preparation for the Test series starting from 19 November. During this period, the Indian ODI team will be led for the first time by Shreyas Iyer, who is India's T20 captain. However, Seifert dismissed suggestions that New Zealand would gain any significant advantage from the absence of these players. He said, "No matter which team we play against, we are ready for the challenge and every player on the field is of international standard. Whichever player comes into their role, they will try to give their best performance."

Changes are also being seen in the New Zealand team. As Tom Latham, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Nathan Smith, and Henry Nicholls have joined New Zealand's Test training camp in Wellington, Finn Allen, Mitch Hay, Dean Foxcroft, Nick Kelly, and Brett Randell will be included in the team for the last two ODI matches.

Seifert stated that his team's focus is not just on this series, but also on a larger goal like the World Cup to be held next year. He said, "We always try to win every match. We want to win every series, but the big goal is the upcoming World Cup. Therefore, this time is for learning in the team, coordinating with each other, and giving opportunities to new players."

Speaking about the current mood of the New Zealand camp, Seifert said that the results have not been in their favour so far and the pitches have also been difficult. He further added that there is currently a group of new players in the team and some players have left the team, so they are now focusing on the next two matches. Seifert also mentioned that he is enjoying his new role as an opening batsman and has received an opportunity to bat this way after a long time.