After securing three consecutive limited-overs series wins, Charith Asalanka-led Sri Lankan side is brewing up with a lot of confidence. The battle-hardened outfit has slowly become a force to reckon with in recent times. The skipper Asalanka now has some serious ambitions for his side and expects them to be as good as they were prior to 2014. 

The cricket-driven island nation was in the midst of its golden run between 2007-2014. During this period, Sri Lanka was often considered a tough opposition, especially in major ICC events where they managed to make no fewer than five World Cup final appearances (three T20Is and two ODIs) before going on to win their maiden T20 World Cup title in 2014. 

But the wheels had fallen off following the retirement of legends like Jayawardene and Sangakkara in 2014-15 and as a result, the team slipped into a hole and started witnessing a downward trajectory, especially in the white-ball format. However, with some sensational series wins against India, New Zealand, and West Indies, Asalanka hopes to revive the legacy of the vintage Lankan squad and replicate some of the old magic that the team possessed back in the day.

What does Asalanka aspire to do for Sri Lankan cricket?

As a first step, the Lankan skipper aims to propel his side up in the ICC Rankings and cement their place in the top three. In T20I cricket, his side is dismally ranked at number eight while in ODI, the Lankan side is up at the sixth position but still faces an inevitable exclusion from the upcoming Champions Trophy. Being the skipper of the Lankan side in the ODI and T20I formats, Sri Lanka have to compete fiercely on all fronts and continuously strive for positive progress. 

"Our goal is to climb to the top three in the rankings. If we've consistently been winning, when we go to the ICC tournaments, we won't get exposed. We'd have played good teams and won, like we used to do in 2014 and before, when we used to get to the semi-finals easily. We are hoping to come back to that level. It's important to play really well from tour to tour."

Their upcoming challenge against the Black Caps

It is worth mentioning that Sri Lanka's unprecedented resurgence in international cricket has largely been at home, most notably on turning wickets. This outfit is yet to be tested in alien conditions outside the Indian subcontinent. To build upon their dominating run, the Sri Lankan team will need to win matches consistently in away conditions.

But on the back of some emphatic series wins at home in recent times, one can safely conclude that the Asalanka-led Sri Lanka side have taken a step in the right direction.  They will now be up against the Black Caps for a five-match white-ball series who are coming off on the back of a historic 3-0 Test series sweep against India in their own backyard. 

See also: BCCI mulling to take strict action against Gautam Gambhir following an annihilating series whitewash

An absolute horror show ensued at the Wakhede Stadium on Sunday as New Zealand did the unthinkable by thrashing India 3-0 at home. Coming fresh from a brutal 0-2 hammering against an above-average Lankan side, very few optimistic cricket fans expected New Zealand to even win a Test match let alone achieve a monumental clean sweep. 

But Latham and his men have conquered the Indian fortress and by doing so have proven to the world that India are not really invincible at home. The spin combo of Ajaz and Phillips wrapped up the proceedings on day three as the duo’s combined figures of 9-99 to drive New Zealand to a historic 3-0 whitewash. Ajaz in particular, had a devastating impact on the Indian batters and picked up 11 wickets in the match to dismantle India left, right, and center in both innings. 

A look at some of the long list of unwanted records for India

If you're an Indian fan then you would surely want to look away from the list of unwanted records that India have managed to register in this forgettable three-match Test series. 

• This is the first time India has been whitewashed in a three or more Test series at home.
• It is also their first-ever Test series whitewash since the year 2000. The last time a whitewash occurred was in a two-match Test series against South Africa
• New Zealand became the first-ever team to whitewash India 3-0 on Indian soil.
• This is India's first-ever Test series defeat at home since 2012. Prior to New Zealand, England were the last team who managed to achieve this remarkable feat.
• New Zealand managed to secure their first test win against India at home since the year 1988. 
• India's paltry 46-10 at Bengaluru is the lowest score ever scored by team India in a home Test.  

The shocking Test series defeat has further aggravated India's aspirations of securing a WTC Final spot. Following the 0-3 whitewash, India now has lost its spot at the top of the tree and slipped to the second position in the points table thus paving the way for Australia at the top who have an impressive PCT of 62.5. New Zealand too have made some rapid gains and have surged to the fourth position in the points table. The 2021 WTC Champions are very much in contention for a berth in the ongoing WTC Final. India face the arduous task of winning four out of five matches in the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy, which by no means will be a walk in the park for the wounded Indian side.

Ajaz Patel once again starred for New Zealand in the third and final Test of the three-match series by claiming superb figures of 5-103 to restrict India to 263. The 36-year-old got to the milestone by removing Ashwin on the last ball of the 58th over when he had him caught by Daryl Mitchell in the first slip. 

Ajaz has a special bond with the city of Mumbai. Known to be his birthplace, Ajaz had previously performed well at the Wankhede. The left-arm spinner recorded his career-best 10-wicket haul in the second match of the 2021 Test series against India where he claimed all 10 wickets to equal Anil Kumble & Jim Laker’s record. Unfortunately, New Zealand went on to lose that Test match by a whopping 372 runs.

A short summary of his performance in the ongoing third Test

This is Ajaz Patel’s sixth five-wicket haul in Test cricket. All six of them have come on Asian soil including two apiece in India & Sri Lanka and one each in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The crafty left-arm spinner enjoys bowling in the Indian subcontinent and thrives in these helpful conditions. India has been a happy hunting ground for him since as many as 26 out of 79 Test wickets in Asia have registered on Indian soil. Surprisingly, the Mumbai-born spinner has never picked up a wicket on his home turf in New Zealand. 

See Also: Pant and Gill hit fifties to drive India forward in Mumbai

Speaking of his performance in the third Test, Ajaz managed to pick up five wickets at the expense of 103 runs while going at a little over 4.5 RPO. Jaiswal, Siraj, Gill, Sarfaraz, and Ashwin were among his five victims. In his nearly 22 overs long spell, the 34-year-old bowled three maidens and got the ball to bite off the surface on regular occasions. His double-wicket over late in the day on day one swung the momentum of the game dramatically in favor of the visitors.  

At the time of writing, the game was nicely set up for the two sides as, despite Ajaz’s heroics with the ball, India were able to eke out a crucial lead of 28 runs.

New Zealand's inspiring 2-0 victory in the three-match Test series has put India's 24-year-long record in jeopardy. India are in real danger of conceding a rare 0-3 series defeat against the Black Caps. It is also the first time New Zealand have been able to manage a Test series win against India at home. With 0-2 down in the series, there is every possibility to consider that India may be on the brink of an embarrassing test series defeat.

India's last clean sweep in Test cricket at home came in the year 2000 against South Africa when they were hammered left, right, and center by a margin of 2-0. Since then, India has been rock solid at home and after 2012, the Indian soil turned out to be a graveyard for the visiting teams. But the shocking Test series defeat against New Zealand has through the Indian side under the bus. Latham and his men are on the verge of becoming the first team to whitewash India at home in a Test series after 24 long years.

India's woes ahead of the final NZ Test

New Zealand could be the first team after South Africa to hand a brutal test series whitewash to India since the year 2000. The big guns of India have failed to fire. Bumrah has failed to replicate the magic with the ball that he is so famously renowned for in both Tests. Moreover, Rohit and Virat's performance has been under the scanner and it has sure been a matter of concern ahead of the Australian tour. 

Washington Sundar's bowling performance in Pune offered a degree of relief, and it will be interesting to observe how the all-rounder performs in the final Test, should he be given the opportunity. The embarrassing Test series defeat at home has also put India's WTC qualification scenario in jeopardy. India will now have to win four out of their last six matches, five of them would be against Australia down under. What could have been a smooth ride is now turning out to be a huge nightmare for the Men in Blue. Rohit & Co. have their backs against the wall and will need to stage a comeback of sorts to end the series 1-2. 

New Zealand registered their first Test win on Indian soil in 36 years, beating India by eight wickets on the fifth and final day of the first Test match in Bengaluru. New Zealand, led by Tom Latham, outplayed India in all three departments, bowling out India for a mere 46 in the first innings and registering a win convincingly —their first since 1988.

Chasing a target of 107 runs on the final day, New Zealand successfully defended the fierce bowling effort from Jasprit Bumrah, who claimed 2 wickets for 29 runs in 8 overs. Bumrah bowled with proper line and length, troubling the New Zealand top order. Devon Conway also struggled to find his form, was eventually dismissed after a struggling start. However, it was Will Young who countered with a positive approach, steering New Zealand's chase in the right direction as well.

Will Young, remaining unbeaten on 48, and Rachin Ravindra, scoring an unbeaten 39, built a steady partnership, adding 75 runs for the third wicket and helping New Zealand reach the target in just 27.4 overs as well. Notably, New Zealand's last Test victory in India came way back in 1988, a milestone that was achieved well before most of the current squad was even born.

Team India, known for their dominance at home, were outclassed as New Zealand controlled the match from the beginning. Despite doing well in the second innings, Team India could not recover from their poor first-innings collapse, a mere total of 46 runs, which proved decisive in their loss as well.

New Zealand's newly-appointed Test captain, Tom Latham, has asked his team to adopt an aggressive approach as they are all set for a three-match series against India. Latham, who took over the reins of captaincy after Tim Southee stepped down, aims to steer the team out of a tough situation of four consecutive World Test Championship defeats as well, which have affected their hopes of reaching the final.

As quoted by ESPNCricinfo, Latham said, "From my point of view it's about trying to continue doing the good stuff we've been doing, trying to put my spin on things," Latham said. "It's an exciting challenging going over to India and once we can go over there hopefully [we can] play with a bit of freedom, bit of no fear and try and take it to them. If we do that hopefully gives ourselves a good chance."

"Think in India we've seen teams that have done well out there" - Tom Latham

"Think in India we've seen teams that have done well out there in the past have been quite aggressive towards them, especially with the bat. They've looked to play a few shots, but also put them under pressure which is really important over there, rather than sitting and waiting for something to happen. We'll decide on how we want to play when we get over there, but guys have got plans around how they like to approach things and hopefully we can fine tune those," he stated.

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Tom Latham has earlier led New Zealand’s Test team in nine games, stepping in for veteran Kane Williamson between 2020 and 2022 as well. Now, as the full-time captain, he is hoping to encourage the players to be themselves and prepare more leaders within the group.

"Obviously a different situation being full-time" - Tom Latham

"Will certainly be leaning on those experiences," he further added. "Obviously a different situation being full-time where you can put your own spin on things but think what I want to do is encourage guys to be themselves, be leaders amongst themselves as well and hopefully if we can do that we can play the brand of cricket we want to play."

The first match between India and New Zealand will take place in Bengaluru on October 16.

Veteran New Zealand player Tom Latham, who has led New Zealand in 44 ODIs, is one of the frontrunners to take up the captaincy duty full-time after Kane Williamson decided to step down. Latham, who has filled in during Williamson’s absence earlier also including at the 2023 Cricket World Cup, is open to taking charge.

“It would obviously be a real honour,” Latham said on Wednesday (July 17). “For me it’s always been about trying to put the team first as best as possible and I’m sure they’ll have those discussions around what they want from a team point of view and certainly if I get the opportunity to do that it would be really special.”

However, it will be interesting to see if New Zealand seek a single captain for both white-ball teams as Latham hasn’t featured in a T20I XI for over a year. Test captain, Tim Southee, could then be an option for the role of all three sides as well.

Coach Gary Stead also revealed that although the management hadn’t reached the final stage of selection yet, Tom Latham was definitely on their shortlist for being named captain as well.

“We’re not at the stage of confirming it yet, so I don’t want to speculate whether Tom will be [named captain] or not. But he’s certainly one guy that will be in discussions around that role,” Stead said. “The important thing is whoever is in place, we want in place for two to three years or so, leading to that next [ODI] World Cup. That will be one of the important decision-making factors that we discuss.”

SEE ALSO: Rohit Sharma comments on his retirement plans after quitting T20Is

“We’ve got a lot of cricket in the summer [and] got an ICC pinnacle event” – Tom Latham

However, soon after a poor T20 World Cup campaign last month, Kane Williamson, Lockie Ferguson and Adam Milne have declined their central contracts with the former captain taking up a casual contract as well. However, Williamson is likely to play the bulk of New Zealand’s international fixtures in all three formats now as well.

“I think at the moment where cricket’s going in New Zealand is slightly different. It’s certainly not a black and white situation, and certainly changing with all these leagues popping up. Guess everyone is in a slightly different boat in what their future may look like depending on their age or stage they are in life,” Latham said.

“Don’t know what the right system is, there is a lot of flexibility within our contracts at the moment, but I think with the changing landscape of cricket I’m sure it will be something that New Zealand Cricket and the players’ association look at and try and come up with something,” he again said.

“We’ve seen over many years now, at times we haven’t had those senior guys. That gives me an opportunity as a senior player to step up and lead as well. But also other guys who haven’t necessarily had opportunities in the past to step up in different leadership roles. It’s never great when you miss guys of Kane’s calibre, but it gives opportunities to other guys to put their best foot forward,” he further stated.

However, New Zealand have a big summer after they tour India in October later this year, with the likes of England, Sri Lanka and Pakistan all travelling either side of the Champions Trophy as well.

“We’ve got a lot of cricket in the summer [and] got an ICC pinnacle event [the Champions Trophy] which is exciting to look forward to. So whether it be with different personnel, whether it be with the guys we are used to having, whenever we can have them I’m sure that will be great, but think we’ve certainly got to be pretty fluid with what things look like in the future,” Tom Latham concluded.

Tom Latham extended his superb record against India, scoring an unbeaten 145 off 104 balls, while Kane Williamson demonstrated exceptional calmness, as expected, to finish on 94 not out off 98 balls in the first ODI in Auckland. Together, they added 221 off 165 balls in an unbroken fourth-wicket stand to help New Zealand chase down India’s 306 for 7 with seven wickets and 17 balls to spare, and give them a 1-0 lead in the three-match series.

New Zealand, the No. 1 ODI side in the world, are now unbeaten for the last 13 ODIs at home. Earlier, half-centuries from Shreyas Iyer, Shikhar Dhawan and Shubman Gill, and a cameo from Washington Sundar, took India to a decent score. At the break, Washington said it was a par total, but it didn’t turn out to be in the end. India were playing an inexperienced bowling attack, with Arshdeep Singh and Umran Malik making their debuts in the format. They were further hamstrung by the absence of a sixth bowling option, especially when the chase got close.

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Williamson and Latham ensured it didn’t impact them at all

In the last 11 overs, New Zealand needed 91 with seven wickets in hand. A couple of quick wickets and India could have been in the hunt, but that’s when Latham shifted the game decisively towards New Zealand. Shardul Thakur, till that point, had figures of 1 for 29 from seven overs. In the 40th over, he went for 25, with Latham smashing four fours and a six. India changed the field after almost every boundary but Latham was unstoppable. Thakur also helped him by repeatedly bowling short and, at times, down the leg side.

At the start of that over, Latham was on 77. By the end of it, he had raised his seventh ODI hundred, off just 76 balls. Latham’s onslaught reduced the equation to 66 needed from 60 balls. By the time New Zealand crossed the finishing line, he was toying with the bowling, punching the fast bowlers through the covers, pulling them to whatever region caught his fancy, and even reverse-sweeping Yuzvendra Chahal behind the keeper with the back of the bat. The winning runs, too, came with a four, via Williamson’s trademark dab to deep third.