We have 'no-excuse mindset' on India's tournament draw, ready for a strong opponent: Phillips

Dubai: New Zealand batter Glenn Phillips on Saturday played down any talks of India getting an advantage by playing all their Champions Trophy matches in Dubai, saying the Kiwis have a “no-excuse mindset” and are ready to tackle an "incredibly strong" opponent.

New Zealand, who have so far played all their Group A matches in Pakistan, will play their first game in Dubai on Sunday against India.

“For us there's no focus on anything like that. Obviously, the tournament draw is what it is. We have a no-excuse mindset to be able to come out to a tournament,” Phillips said during the pre-match press meet here on Saturday.

“You’ve dealt the hand that you've dealt, and India has been dealt a hand. We’re never going to complain about what we get and we'll just do the best of what we've got,” he added.

Phillips was aware of the threat an in-form India poses to New Zealand, who are also coming to this match with an all-win record.

“We have our game plans against India. They're an incredibly strong side and they pretty much have all their bases covered. So for us, I guess it's about looking at the pitches and the results that have just gone by recently.

“Obviously it's (the DICS pitch) playing a little bit slow and there's obviously a good deal of turn. So, I think it's going to be an interesting match-up. They've got three quality spinners and we have a lot of all-rounders as well.

“So, we do have a lot of bases covered regardless of the situation that we're going to be facing against,” he added.

‘Tackling Indian spinners important’

The Auckland player underlined the importance of New Zealand batters to execute their plans against Indian spinners to gain an upper hand, particularly in the middle-overs.

“The quality of the Indian spinners is going to be about how we can rotate, strike, how we can take the game deep and be able to give ourselves a chance to launch an attack of death.

“If we do that first, put a competitive score on the board and if we're chasing it becomes really crucial to limit those dot balls in the middle overs.

“Obviously, it's not an easy task. They are fantastic spinners. But we've all got our individual plans and hopefully we can go out there and execute them,” he noted.

In that context, the 28-year-old said senior batter Tom Latham and middle-order batter Rachin Ravindra have important roles to play for their side.

“The middle phase is obviously very crucial in the way it’s on Latham. Obviously, Tom and Rachin in the last game against Bangladesh during a tricky period was fantastic. I think that's probably crucial going into this match as well,” he said.

Phillips said his side is eager to enter the semifinals with an all-win record in the group stage.

“I think we pride ourselves on trying to be as adaptable as possible. So to be able to come to a new situation, a new environment, we rise up to the challenge and we always fight no matter what.

“Obviously, finishing in the top spot (in the group) goes with a great deal of confidence going into the semifinals,” he said.