WELLINGTON: A sombre leadership handover decided half a world from home marked Tom Latham’s rise to the New Zealand captaincy and provided a stark remi­nder of the funk the team finds itself in ahead of a daun­ting assignment in India.

Following a stinging 2-0 Test series loss away to Sri Lanka, out-of-form paceman Tim Southee decided he was no longer the man to lead a struggling squad while scrat­c­hing around for wickets to keep his international career alive.

Having stood in as captain on nine previous occasions and with no stand-out candidates among his teammates, Latham was the obvious cho­ice to take the reins from Southee.

However, there was little fanfare greeting the 32-year-old ope­n­ing batsman’s ascension as he returned home from south Asia with a heavy gloom engulfing the team.

Though appearing fati­gued from the long-haul flight, Lat­ham praised predecessor Sou­t­hee while struggling to conjure enthusiasm for his perma­nent appointment as captain.

“I obviously feel very privileged to be given the opportunity and [with] luck we have plenty of leaders in the group,” he told news website Stuff in an interview. “I’ll soon be leaning on them throughout my time, I would say.”

A solid, if unspectacular, opener with an average of 39.41 from 82 Tests, Latham has been a fixture at the top of New Zealand’s batting order for a decade.

His career has coincided nea­tly with a golden era for New Zealand cricket driven by former skippers Brendon McC­ullum and Kane Williamson.

Southee, New Zealand’s second-most prolific wicket-taker in Tests, was a key contributor to the Black Caps’ success through the period and gamely took the captai­ncy mantle when Willia­mson stepped down in late 2022.

But the team he inherited was no longer the juggernaut that claimed the inaugural World Test Championship in 2021, with players retiring and others quitting internationals to focus on the more luc­rative T20 franchise circuit.

Latham now takes over with the team at a lower ebb, with four successive test def­eats racked up either side of the washed-out Afghanistan match.

Though still reliably producing runs at home and away, Lat­ham may be frustrated with his failure to post a century in nearly two years to inspire his team.

Against India, which has now won a record 18 home Test series in succession with their 2-0 defeat of Bang­ladesh, Latham will be under pressure to lead from the front in the three-match series starting in Bangalore on Oct 16.

“It’s obviously a great challenge that’s ahead and I guess it’s something to look forward to,” he said.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2024