I had no fears of bowling the first over: Spinner Ojha

Spinner Pragyan Ojha says he had no fears of bowling the first over of Bangalore Test match

I had no fears of bowling the first over: Spinner Ojha

Left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha said India did a fine job by taking six wickets on a batsman-friendly pitch after New Zealand skipper Ross Taylor tuned in with a fine hundred on Day One of the second Test at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here yesterday.

Pragyan Ojha (left) and substitute Ajinkya Rahane celebrate the wicket of Kane Williamson in Bangalore yesterday. PIC/AFP

“Umesh (Yadav), (Ravichandran) Ashwin, Zaheer (Khan) and me bowled well. We did quite well by taking six wickets on a wicket which was not doing much,” said Ojha. The Indian bowlers have a challenge on hand to bowl out the Kiwis in good time after the visitors finished Day One on 328 for six.

Ojha, who opened the bowling for India, said he was excited to start the proceedings. “Immediately, after winning the toss skipper Dhoni told me that I have to bowl with the new ball and I was quite ready for it. I got the new ball because there was some moisture in the wicket,” said Ojha, who ended the day as the most successful bowler with 4-90.u00a0“I knew the new ball wasn’t going to grip, so the best option was to be disciplined and bowl to a straight line. They were trying to be aggressive and Ross (Taylor) played quite well,” he added.

Taylor smashed a 127-ball 113, a memorable knock which included two sixes and 16 fours. Half centurion Martin Guptill said New Zealand would look to score around 450 runs in their first innings and pick a few early wickets to put India under pressure. “The contest from here on would be interesting if my team put 400-450 on the board and pick a few wickets early few wickets early,” he said.

Guptill stressed his side had nothing to lose against a very formidable unit. “There was no pressure in our camp as we have nothing to lose. We tried to be aggressive. Luckily, the plan worked out. We got enough number of boundaries early on in the innings and that took a load off us. Taylor played some really good shots. He forced the bowlers to bowl some bad balls,” he said.

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