'You're allowed to win, but in the right way': Former NZ batsman says facing India is like 'playing golf against boss'
Mark Richardson, the former New Zealand batsman, has compared facing India in cricket to 'playing golf against your boss'.
India are the No. 1-ranked Test team for a reason. In fact, this is the fifth straight occasion that they have ended the year at the top of the ICC Test rankings. Their 2-1 win in Australia and a 3-1 victory against England at home helped them finish the year with a rating of 121, marginally ahead of New Zealand, who had a rating of 120. Hence, it is no surprise that India and New Zealand have made it to the final of the World Test Championship.
As two of the most decorated teams get set to battle with the inaugural WTC title on the line, former New Zealand batsman Mark Richardson has come up with a rather unique take on the Indian cricket team. The former New Zealand opening batsman reckons facing India in cricket is like 'playing golf against your boss', explaining how it is important to play in the right manner with Virat Kohli and his team.
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"I'd look at it from who you want to perform individually against. I look at India at the moment… and it's like playing golf against your boss. You're allowed to win but just in the right way. You know, we stitched them up in New Zealand a couple of times and it always felt a little bit dirty afterwards. It didn't feel like we'd really beaten them," Richardson said on Spark Sport.
Richardson spoke about the three superpowers of international cricket – India, England and Australia – explaining how different it is for New Zealand and its players to be up against each of them. The biggest test for Richardson personally remains playing against Australia. The former batsman played five Tests against the Aussies, scoring 200 runs with a best of 57.
"England, yes… they invented the game and you're always playing for your place as a cricket team, I guess. But Australia to me was like the proving ground for a New Zealand cricketer. You went there to prove your mettle and I did it and I'll take that to the grave actually. I'd probably still need help over what happened in Australia. I think they still hold it over us. Even the very best have underperformed against Australia," Richardson pointed out.