The warm-up match between Mumbai XI and New Zealand presented a good contest for both the teams. While Mumbai got to test themselves against a national side ahead of the season, the Blackcaps got an opportunity to get a feel of the Indian conditions against the Ranji Trophy champions. Making most of the opportunity, New Zealand also shuffled their line-up to give their lower-order an opportunity to bat in Indian conditions. And to that end, Luke Ronchi opened the batting in the second innings while the tail-enders batted up the order. Elaborating on the move, he said, “I think they are very capable of doing that. In the Test matches, we are going to need everyone to contribute to win games. So the more you can gain from this sort of situation, the more you can bat with them and talk to them while they are batting. You can learn some things, you might be able to teach a few things as well.” While New Zealand went about the task of familiarising their batsmen to the Indian conditions, the Mumbai batters too looked to spend as much time as they can in the middle as they posted 464 runs on the board. “Our plan was to bat for one and half days and we almost did that,” Siddhesh Lad said while speaking to the media. Speaking about the wickets and the purchase that their spinners got from it (eight New Zelanad wickets) on the last day, the Mumbai batsman said, “It was the third day of the game and we will always have some turn on the third day and there was some turn.” The ability to negotiate spin is likely to be a crucial aspect while batting in India, asked about his approach to it, Ronchi explained, “I think each batsman has his own game plan for bowlers and how they play them. My game plan is almost to try to get off strike. With the field in I try hit them out. A couple over the top (big hits) and then a few more (runs in the) gaps. That is how I pretty much go about my batting. If it works then that’s fantastic, though it is not going to work all the times. I think the best way to bat sometimes is to be at the other end. You work with your partner as long as you can.” Speaking about his batting position, the batsman was emphatic in saying that the aim is to contribute in whichever way possible. “Opening was just the position given to me for the second innings. I just wanted to have a hit and do as best as I possibly could. If it comes up, I would not certainly say no, but you never know what Mike Hesson and Kane (Williamson) are thinking. So I just go about my business and do the best I can when given a chance. If I am not playing, I am not playing. If I have to bat at 11, I would be happy to do that as well.” Asked about the team’s morale after being plundered for more than 400 runs, he observed, “These are foreign conditions for us and they know their conditions. The way they batted was (really good). They had a young 17-year-old who batted really well. They showed us how you can play on these wickets. Spin is a big thing and they took our spinners down later in the day. It showed us what can be done on these wickets. They played brilliantly. We got to play better to bowl teams like these out and even better if we want to beat India.” Speaking about his approach against New Zealand’s spin department, Lad, who scored a century said, “He (Mitchell Santner) was doing it but he was bit quicker in the air and on the second day it was not turning a lot so I decided to just (get going). Speaking about the takeaways from the match, Ronchi said, “It helped in getting used to the wicket which was changing, deteriorating a bit with guys facing more spin towards the end and ball doing a few different things. Mumbai bowled and batted really. I think we got some learnings from that. When they took us out in the final session, we were not able to pull off our game plans. There are lot of positives, couple of little negatives to sort out. We have a big series coming up and there will ups and downs. So as long as we are going forward, it is a good situation to be in. “We have had training sessions in a three-day game which is really good. We have got some net sessions left before the first Test. The batter will try to hit as many balls as they can in the nets, and the bowlers will go about their job, working out game plans so you go into game with full confidence,” he said while speaking about their preparations ahead of the Test series. While New Zealand’s Test squad got a chance to work on their skills, Mumbai playing with five players who are yet to make their first-class debut got a chance to test their bench strength. While Mumbai did contribute to giving New Zealand the practice that they were looking for by also bowling again, they themselves tested their bowling department as well as Sufiyan Shaikh getting an opportunity to keep wickets. In the last session, Aditya Tare being off the field, Lad led the team as well. Speaking about the occasion, he said, “It is a dream to play for Mumbai and it is a dream to lead Mumbai it was awesome leading the team because Tare and Surya were rested in the third session.” The visitors will head to Kanpur to play their first Test and they will be etching their name in history books by being part of India’s 500th Test. “Cricket in India in general is pretty awesome. 500th Test is pretty cool as well,” Ronchi remarked.