Martin Guptill has a mission

Calcutta: Martin Guptill has been one of the more consistent players for New Zealand in the Tests in recent times. In the last four Test matches, he scored 355 runs, including four half-centuries.

Now, he wants to carry the form into the two-match Twenty20 International series against India, the first of which will be played at Visakhapatnam on Saturday.

Guptill says scoring runs in the series will also help in boosting his confidence ahead of the World T20, which is scheduled to be held at Sri Lanka from September 18.

“Though I have failed to score the hundreds, the fifties go in a long way to prove that I’m in good shape. I have got the starts but I have failed to convert them."

“Now, I want to translate this form in the T20 format… Scoring some runs in the series will also help in boosting my confidence ahead of the World T20. In all probability, I will be opening the batting or come at first down… If I can score some runs at a brisk pace, it will also help the team in getting off to a good start,” Guptill said.

New Zealand had last played a T20 match in July. The right-handed batsman said that the side will not have any problem in adjusting to the T20 format.

“It’s true that T20 is more about aggression. You have to go in there and hit the ball right from the outset. I think we have a really strong batting line-up that can do well on the Indian pitches… We have prepared well for the series. The boys had their own ways of preparing for the series… But they are all raring to go out there and perform to the best of their abilities,” he said.

The 25-year-old Guptill said that the India tour has been a good learning experience for them.

“We had lost the Hyderabad Test in a very bad way. We failed to adjust to the conditions. But we put up a good fight in the second Test where the conditions were to our liking…"

“Despite losing the Test series, the guys are in high spirits. The tour has been a good learning experience for us… Most of the guys didn’t know much about the Indian conditions. So, this experience will help them in the future,” Guptill concluded.