BENGALURU: Home advantage is losing its sheen in international cricket, with teams increasingly equipped to beat opponents in the latter’s own backyard. Former head coach Gary Stead believes hosts New Zealand may not enjoy the edge they once did when India begin their tour with the T20 series beginning on Thursday, with the visitors’ improved pace attack and the ability to adapt to challenging conditions making them a formidable opponent.The 54-year-old, who oversaw a successful phase in New Zealand cricket, including their World Test Championship triumph, said the days of exploiting an opponent’s perceived weakness were fading.“Earlier, you played India and thought, ‘Oh, we’ll do a green track because they don’t have good seamers.’ Now they have quality seamers as well,” Stead said.Referring to New Zealand’s 3-0 triumph in the 2024 Test series in India, he added: “The same way, when we came in 2024, we had quality spinners too. The whole idea of home advantage has disappeared a little bit around the world. Everyone has shown the competence to beat everyone else at any given time. So you’ve got to be on your game and be sharp.”Stead, currently head coach of Andhra’s Ranji Trophy team, believes India’s ability to adapt to New Zealand’s bouncy surfaces will be crucial to their chances.“The Indians are going to have to adapt to bouncy wickets, some of the bounciest possibly in the world. The wickets will have bounce and carry. If the Indian players can nullify New Zealand’s bowlers, then I think it’ll be a cracking series,” he said.The Test matches, in particular, could pose the toughest challenge. Stead pointed to Hagley Oval in Christchurch and Basin Reserve Wellington as venues traditionally known for their extra bounce.“It’s very important for New Zealand. India are obviously an amazing Test side, and then we go to Australia and play, so there are six huge Tests coming up for New Zealand. But if you want to be judged against the best, you’ve got to compete against the best as well,” he said.With Australia and South Africa also producing compelling Test cricket recently, Stead believes the influence of T20 cricket is increasingly visible in the longest format.“I think the T20 format has allowed players a little bit more freedom in the way they play. And I think that’s rubbing off on Test cricket now as well,” he said.Stead also called on the International Cricket Council (ICC) to explore more multi-format series, arguing that longer tours could help sustain interest across formats.“Personally, I think the ICC should consider playing more multi-format series. Rather than teams coming and going very quickly and people forgetting about the series, it could be a little like the women’s Ashes, where they have multi-format scenarios. I really think it’s something that could take off,” he said.However, he acknowledged that fitting longer tours into an increasingly crowded international calendar would be difficult, with teams constantly preparing for the next World Cup in one of the two white-ball formats.
