India skipper MS Dhoni believes that a Test series win in New Zealand will be the perfect gift to Indian batting veterans Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, who will probably be playing their last tour in New Zealand.
India, today, won its first Test match in New Zealand in 33 years after it defeated the hosts by 10-wickets. The star performers in the victory were India’s maestro batsman Sachin Tendulkar who scored a superb 160 in the first-innings and Harbhajan Singh who then scalped 6-63 in the second innings to dismiss the hosts for 279 in the second innings.
The convincing 10-wicket victory in the first Test holds India in good stead to win the Test series in New Zealand – something it hasn’t been able to do in 41 years. However after a 3-1 victory in the recently-concluded one day international series and a victory in the first Test, the Indian team has its best chance to clinch the series on Kiwi soil.
"One of the first milestones we have achieved in this series is to win a game and take the lead. But now it is important to play the same kind of cricket in the second and the third games," said the Indian skipper.
"If we can win the series that will be the best gift the team gives to Sachin and Rahul."
"I have got a great team, more than anything else. Each and every individual is doing his job. We enjoy each others' success. We help each other a lot when it comes to cricket, on and off the field.”
Pleasure to see Sachin bat: Dhoni
Dhoni further went on to exalt his team saying that his side was right on top of their game and that every batsman worked around Tendulkar to give India a commanding first-innings lead.
“It is always difficult in Test matches if the opposition gets a 200 or 250-run lead with three days of play on. It is tough to tackle the mental aspect more than anything else.”
Dhoni also credited the Kiwi bowlers for bowling well and making it difficult for the Indians to score. He was happy that his decision to field first proved right and lauded praise on all his bowling, especially Harbhajan, for their all-round display and commitment.
Talking about Tendulkar’s knock, Dhoni – who shared a 115-run stand for the sixth wicket with Tendulkar – said that it was a pleasure to see India’s greatest batsman bat.
“It's a pleasure to see him bat. Whenever he scores those big hundreds, you can't see anything better. The way he paced his innings, there was a phase when the New Zealand bowlers were bowling well”
Dhoni, who at the crease when Sachin when he scored his century and 150, added, “He didn't take too many risks at that point of time and later on he capitalized on that. Once he was over that 80-run mark, he was getting boundaries at will. I don't think there was any bad delivery that wasn't hit for a four."
Outplayed in every aspect: Vettori
Meanwhile, Kiwi skipper Daniel Vettori, who rescued his team from the clutches of an early collapse in the fifth innings with a valiant century, was disappointed with his team’s performance.
"We were outplayed in all three facets of the game. If we look back to the start and the situation we put ourselves in at 60 for six, we recovered moderately from there. In every aspect India just showed us how to do it in this Test match," said the bespectacled, Vettori who picked up two wickets and scored 116 runs in the match.
He added that his team needs to quickly improve on a lot of aspects before the second Test at Napier, saying that his side needs to spend longer hours at the crease with both bat and ball.
"It is the longevity with ball and bat. Obviously, we have to bat longer. Eighty overs in both innings are just not acceptable. We need to bat at least 120 overs.”
"With the ball we just got to be consistent in putting the ball in the right areas. At times we built pressure for up to six to ten balls and then we let it slip and bowled the boundary balls. We need to put 30-35 balls in the right areas in a row to create pressure and give ourselves the opportunity to win.”
The second Test begins on March 26.
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