Tom Latham

Tom is the son of former New Zealand player Rod Latham. He is a wicket-keeper batsman, who made his First-Class debut for Canterbury, after being part of the New Zealand squad for the U-19 World Cup in 2010. Tom didn't make much of an impact in First-Class cricket, but a hundred in the Ford Trophy gained him a call up for the series against Zimbabwe.

In a rain-curtailed match against Sri Lanka, where New Zealand had to chase down 203 in 23 overs, Latham combined well with Luke Ronchi to see his side through to a fine victory. He scored a well-measured 86 which got him the Man of the Match award. He was soon handed his first Test cap against India in 2014 when Ross Taylor was unavailable. Latham was dismissed for a duck in the first innings, but got a start in the second and scored 29. He travelled with the team to the West Indies and scored three successive fifties in the first two Test matches.

On the back of some good performances, he made a comeback into the ODI side for the home series against South Africa, but did not have a great time with the bat. The subsequent ODI series against Pakistan wasn't fruitful for him either. He, however, accrued back-to-back hundreds in the first two matches of the Test series against Pakistan.

Over the years, Latham has established himself as an old-school Test opener who grinds out the new ball and sets the stage for the strokemakers later on. As far as the limited overs formats go, after Brendon McCullum's retirement, he seemed to have cemented his place as an opener in the team. He did show a fair amount of consistency but there was a belief that Latham wasn't able to force the pace at will - an imperative skill these days for a limited-overs opener.

Despite being less-aggressive in nature, Latham did produce the goods and had a good time in 2016-17 when he considerably improved his game in the 50-over format. However, he was later slotted to the middle order, mainly for the tour of India due to his ability to play spin. That coincided with the promotion of Munro as an opener and the latter's instant success at the top meant that Latham continued to cement his place in the middle-order, helping his team build crucial partnerships while at it. Much like Latham's batting, his glovework is also quite dependable and he has adapted to the role with ease despite not being a specialist by design. This ability of his means that New Zealand have more balance in their side.

Latham, time and again, proved that he has great skill and composure to handle spin. While he's good at playing the sweep, Latham also loves using his feet to smother the threat from the spinners. His improved consistency with the bat, primarily in ODIs and Tests, helped him earn the vice-captaincy role and also continues to remain as one of the key members of the New Zealand batting line-up.

In December, 2018 Tom Latham carried the bat in a Test against Sri Lanka, as he got his highest ever score of 264. He was picked for the 2019 ODI World Cup as well next year, and played all games as a middle order batter as New Zealand reached the finals.

A year later, Latham captained New Zealand for the first time in a Test match with regular skipper Kane Williamson missing out due to illness. He also captained the side against India in a few ODIs later where Williamson was out injured. His ODI career though suffered a blip post 2022 with Devon Conway taking over as opener, alongside the likes of Rachin Ravindra and Will Young.

Latham’s Test career though remained solid, as he scored his second double century during the home summer of 2022. He ended that year with a ton against Pakistan on a placid pitch in Karachi. Latham took over as Test captain in October, 2024 after former skipper Tim Southee stepped down following a 3-0 humbling by Sri Lanka.

His first assignment as full time skipper was an away series against India, and he managed to produce astonishing results. Latham led from the front and got starts in almost all games, countering the spinners with his sweep shots as New Zealand managed a 3-0 whitewash.

By Hariprasad Sadanandan