'To beat India in India is a bigger challenge than beating them in England' - Devon Conway

New Zealand opener Devon Conway believes that if New Zealand can beat India in India, it will be a massive achievement for the team. The Kiwis are set to play a two-match Test series in India after the T20 World Cup. The two teams met in the World Test Championship (WTC) final where Kane Williamson-led side piped India to become the inaugural Test World Champions.

India are a brute force in home conditions and haven’t lost a series since England defeated them in 2012-13. New Zealand last visited India in 2016 for a three-match series and were blown away 3-0. Conway admitted if New Zealand can pull off a win in India, it will be as huge as the WTC final win in England.

“Definitely. That’s a massive goal that we’d like to achieve. To beat India in their home conditions is probably a bigger challenge than beating them in England. It would be a serious achievement, if not as big as the World Test Championship final. That will be a very important series to try and prove that,” said Devon Conway in a chat with stuff.co.nz.

Conway said the conditions in the subcontinent won’t be easy for the batters who’ll have to find ways to score runs. He said the batters have to be mentally strong on the spin-friendly surfaces. “Travelling to the subcontinent and being presented with surfaces that turn, that’s where you’ve got to be really strong mentally within your defence, trust your defence, and you’ve got to have a method in which you can score. If you’re not looking to score runs, you won’t be in good positions. You’ve got to nail down a plan and stick to it as much as possible, even though it’s going to be challenging,” said Conway.

The series gets underway on November 25 in Kanpur, followed by the second Test on December 03.