New Zealand fast bowler Chris Martin silenced his doubters by taking a brace of Indian wickets on his return to Test cricket in Hamilton today.
New Zealand fast bowler Chris Martin silenced his doubters by taking a brace of Indian wickets on his return to Test cricket in Hamilton today.
Martin, New Zealand's most experienced Test bowler, was left out of the squad for the series against the West Indies with the selectors hinting at a lack of form following an injury lay-off.
But Martin put all that aside to mark his comeback with the wickets of Gautam Gambhir (72) and VVS Laxman (30) as India reached 278 for four, to trail New Zealand by one run when play ended early on day two of the first Test because of poor light.
"There is always an incentive there to prove a few people wrong. You tend to truck in pretty hard and the rewards today were a couple of good wickets so I'm happy," Martin told Radio Sport.
The 34-year-old seamer admitted there was also the need to prove something to himself after being in the wilderness.
He said: "Having a couple of months out of the team it takes you a while to come to grips with that and you end up having to come back and prove to yourself that you can still do it.
"Anyone else who's watching - that's a bonus. I'm pleased with the day."
New Zealand enjoyed some early success when James Franklin's superb direct hit had danger man Virender Sehwag run out in just the third over of the day.
Sehwag had added just two runs to his overnight score of 22.
Martin then struck after lunch to bring Gambhir's innings to a close before Rahul Dravid (66) was clean bowled by Iain O'Brien.
Laxman departed late in the day leaving Sachin Tendulkar unbeaten on 70 and Yuvraj Singh, eight not out, to resume on day three.
Martin, who had never faced the Indians prior to this match, said coming up against batsmen such as Sehwag, Dravid and Tendulkar was an exciting prospect.
"It was quite cool when Tendulkar walked about because I've been watching him for 15 years and it was nice to be standing there with the ball for once," he said.
"It's everything you dream of really. The dream is getting him out. That's something we'll have to come back and do tomorrow.
"You feel pretty good about yourself when you get one of these guys out. You don't get too far ahead of yourself, but it's definitely a nice feeling."
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