Hosts India look to avoid whitewash in Mumbai Test

India will look to avoid a rare series whitewash at home when they meet New Zealand in the third and final Test of the series in Mumbai from today and head coach Gautam Gambhir said his team had to rise to the challenge.New Zealand tormented the hosts with pace and beat them by eight wickets in Bengaluru for their first Test victory in India for 36 years.They wrapped up the series in Pune with a 113-run victory set up by the spinners.It was New Zealand’s maiden series win in India going back to 1955 and the Black Caps snapped the hosts’ proud home streak of 18 successive series triumphs since their 2-1 defeat by England 12 years ago.The last time India were blanked in a home series was in 2000, when they lost 2-0 to South Africa, and Gambhir said his batsmen had to adapt before next month’s tour of Australia, where they will play five tests."We should be able to adapt. We should be a side that can get 400 on a day if we need to get a result and able to bat for two days as well. That’s what growth is and that’s what Test cricket is all about,” Gambhir told reporters yesterday."Test cricket can’t be played in a single manner because it’s about adaptability, looking at the situation and playing according to the situation and more importantly, it’s about playing sessions. If we can start to learn to play sessions, with the quality we have in our batting lineup, I think if we play 4-1/2 sessions we’ll have a lot of runs on the board.”Mitchell Santner’s match haul of 13 wickets in Pune exposed India’s frailties against spin bowling."Sometimes you have to hand it to the opposition. I think Mitchell Santner was outstanding in the last game. We’ll keep working hard and getting better. The guys are putting in the hard yards in the nets,” Gambhir added."Ultimately it’s the results that matter when you’re playing international cricket, but I don’t think our skills against spin have actually gone down."It’s about working hard and getting better.”For the home team, the spotlight today will be on star batsman Virat Kohli.Kohli’s recent struggles in Test cricket, particularly against spin, have been a cause for concern. Since the start of 2022, his performance in Asian conditions has been notably underwhelming.In 19 innings in Asia during this period, he has been dismissed by spin bowlers 16 times, averaging a modest 29.31.This stark contrast to his performance against pace, where he has averaged 47.00, highlights his vulnerability to spin. His tendency to play from the crease, rather than stepping forward to the pitch, has often led to his downfall.As the Indian team prepares to face a spin-friendly pitch in Mumbai, Kohli will need to adapt his approach and find a way to counter the threat of spin bowling.New Zealand skipper Tom Latham said the team were looking forward to the opportunity for a sweep."We’ve done a lot of good stuff over the last couple of weeks, but I guess for us, every Test match, you go in with the focus of trying to win key moments, not necessarily focusing on the result,” Latham said."That’s the byproduct of putting things together back to back, good sessions back to back."This is a different pitch, and these are different conditions,” he added.