New Zealand cricket team coach Mike Hesson has backed his players to make a quick comeback and be far more competitive, after making the necessary adjustments, in the second Test against Pakistan that gets underway on Monday in Dubai.
New Zealand had been left to digest a poor 248-run loss to the Pakistan in the opening Test in Abu Dhabi, but Hesson likened that to a 'train crash' given the way his team were outplayed in batting, bowling and fielding.
He said that they did not adapt as quickly as they would like but added that they are a group of quick learners and are going to have to learn pretty quickly before Dubai.
Pakistan scored a mountain of runs, while New Zealand took just five wickets and conceded 20 in a Test that only just made it to the fifth day.
Hesson said that the easy excuse was to lay the blame on the New Zealand batting which, apart from Tom Latham's maiden Test century in the first innings, was fragile.
But the coach added that New Zealand's problems were deeper than that. He said that it's easy from a train crash point of view to look at their batting, but New Zealand were outplayed in all three disciplines.
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Hesson said that they need to improve and are well aware of that, adding that he is expecting them to improve and to adapt to conditions quicker.
Hesson also said that Pakistan know these conditions very well and have performed very well in them over a long period of time, adding that they have to show respect to Pakistan with the way they have been able to put opposition under pressure.