NZ coach urges team ‘to look at bigger picture’

Visakhapatnam: Bowling coach Jacob Oram on Tuesday hoped that New Zealand will be able to put aside the drubbing by India in the ongoing T20I series and peak during next month’s T20 World Cup.

The Kiwis came into the five-match T20I series with high hopes after registering their maiden ODI rubber win on these shores, but failed to find their bearings against an aggressive group of Indian top-order batters.

“Well, the easy answer is that we win these two games (4th and 5th T20Is) and that would be nice for the overall team confidence. I said before about guys coming back from niggles and injury layoffs, guys finding their own individual confidence, but to win games is nice,” Oram said during the pre-match press conference here.

But Oram admitted that the team needed to look beyond the results in the T20I series, and remain focussed on the ICC showpiece.

“To sing our winning team song after a nice victory against a good side would be cool, but at the same time you’ve got to look a bit deeper than wins and losses.

“And that’s not downplaying the results here, but we’ve got to make sure that we’re looking at the longer term and the bigger picture as well. And historically New Zealand have peaked well during the ICC events.