The day before the second test against India, with pressure piled on his team and even placed on his role, New Zealand captain Ross Taylor suggested a novel strategy.
To alleviate the tension and ensure his side didn't slip to a fourth straight test defeat, Taylor was going to attack.
Today in Bangalore, Taylor walked the talk to compile a run-a-ball century as New Zealand's batsmen showed fight for the first time this series to reach 328-6 when bad light stopped play.
Taylor yesterday urged his charges to banish their batting woes by taking an aggressive approach to the crease, and the captain decided to lead by example.
He showed his intent early by hitting Ravi Ashwin, who took 12 wickets in Hyderabad, over the ropes in just his second over, before proceeding to show that was no anomaly.
Taylor stroked the ball to all corners of the ground he called home for three seasons while playing for the Royal Challengers in the IPL, with one sumptuous straight drive off Zaheer Khan the highlight.
His 50 came off 46 balls and he seemed set to threaten his own record century - an 81-ball innings against Australia - before the nervous nineties kicked in.
Still, when the milestone did arrive from 99 balls, it was the fastest ton by a New Zealander against India, coming with 16 fours and a six.
The century was greeted by a cheer as loud as any reserved for an Indian from the crowd at M Chinnaswamy Stadium and, in further proof of his popularity, Taylor was even trending on Twitter in India.
Taylor's onslaught achieved exactly its stated aim - removing fielders from around the bat and putting the onus back on the Indian attack.
It also quieted doubters who questioned Taylor's captaincy, after the recent streak of futility from his team, and his own personal form.
Before this innings, Taylor had notched only two centuries in his last 42 turns with the bat and, despite becoming Pragyan Ojha's fourth victim when he was on 113, he would have felt a measure of relief.
That feeling was enhanced by the position in which he left his team, something wicket-keeper Kruger van Wyk capitalised on to post his maiden test half century and push the New Zealand total above 300.
That is one particular benchmark this test team have failed to reach with regularity this year. Excluding the walkover against Zimbabwe to open the year, New Zealand have only once passed 300 in seven test matches.
It could have been even better for the tourists had their weakness not been further exposed by India's strength.
It has become rote but the Kiwi batsmen again struggled against the twin spin of the hosts, with Ojha and Ashwin picking up five of the six wickets to fall.
India captain MS Dhoni wasted no time in testing whether his opponents had improved from Hyderabad, handing the new ball to Ojha to provide an early morning examination.
Brendon McCullum and Martin Guptill survived but McCullum didn't last for long, trapped in front by Zaheer Kahn for a duck the very next over.
Guptill, though, laid the groundwork for Taylor's innings with an aggressive display of his own. After receiving a life when he was dropped in the slips, Guptill decided to cash in and brought up New Zealand's second half century of the series.
The opener was also scoring at a rapid rate but, unlike Taylor, his offensive outburst eventually proved his undoing against Ojha.
Guptill has now lost his wicket to tweakers in six of his last seven innings. The only exception was a run out.
