Lockie Ferguson may be the unofficial leader of the Blackcaps fast-bowling unit, but he will be lean on his inexperienced teammates in their Twenty20 series decider against India.
With Tim Southee, Trent Boult, Adam Milne and Matt Henry all unavailable for the tour, Ferguson, 31, is the most experienced fast bowler in an otherwise newlook attack, boasting more caps than Ben Lister, Blair Tickner, Henry Shipley and Jacob Duffy combined.
But even without their stalwarts, New Zealand can secure a series victory with a win in the third T20 at Ahmedabad on Thursday morning (NZ time).
While the rookies have been widely panned after the 3-0 one-day series defeat to the hosts, Ferguson has been impressed with their input and hailed the Blackcaps environment for allowing them to thrive.
"Even with Tim and Trent there, we liked to think of ourselves as a pack, but in today's day and time, everyone's voice is heard, and the big thing about the young players coming through is their voice needs to be heard too," Ferguson said.
"They see the game and they play the game differently. For sure, I've had a bit more experience here, so naturally relaying that information to them is important.
"But even Blair Tickner, he's come here and done exceptionally well, and understood the conditions from an 'A' series he played here. He's had experience.
"He's brought that into both the ODI and T20, and he's offering a lot of good information and clarity. I think that's probably a huge positive of the Blackcaps, that everyone gets a say.
"We're a collective trying to win the game, and it's nice to have some young bowlers get that opportunity and experience."
The Blackcaps have only had a few days to move on from their disappointing loss in the second T20, where they managed only 99 runs in the first innings.
Despite their successful run chase, Indian captain Hardik Pandya slammed the pitch, which resulted in the curator being sacked, but Ferguson admits he enjoyed the tricky conditions and is a fan of the contest lowscoring games bring.
"I bowled my four in the first game, I actually enjoyed bowling on it," he said. "The cross-seamers spun a little bit, and got a little bit of extra pace and carry.
"To be honest, even Arshdeep [Singh] bowling to be in the last game, there was a little bit of pace and carry, but clearly spin was the right option. I know Sants [captain Mitchelll Santner] cracked a joke about asking if I bowl off-spin and I can confirm I don't,
"Certainly, an exciting match, and I think we play a lot of T20 here in India and around the world, we have those highscoring games and, as a bowler, it might sound a bit funny, but sometimes those lower-scoring - probably not the 100 - games are just as exciting.
"It brings a good battle between bat and ball, so I think, for the game, it's great. I'm sure fans prefer the big, highscoring matches, but as a cricket player, they can be pretty exciting.
"Certainly, I found that last game very exciting."
