India coach Rahul Dravid lauds his spinners for taking nine New Zealand wickets on unresponsive fifth-day pitch as first Test ends in a draw
Ravindra Jadeja (right) is ecstatic after dismissing NZ captain Kane Williamson on Day Five of the first Test at Kanpur yesterday. Pics/AFP
The Indians got nine New Zealand wickets but failed to dislodge the last pair of Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel as the visitors managed a creditable draw after being down and out in the post-tea session.
“We showed great composure and fighting spirit and worked really hard in that final session. It was quite an unresponsive pitch on the fifth day and really good effort to have taken eight wickets after lunch, three in that session and five in last session. “With a little bit of luck, it would have gone our way I think, guys really fought hard,” Dravid said after the match.
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What surprised Dravid was the fact that the pitch lacked the bite one finds in this part of the world on the fifth day with minimal turn and almost no close-in fielders—slips, forward short leg, silly-point or backward short-leg—coming into the picture.
Rahul Dravid
“It was low and slow and probably it didn’t have that much bounce or didn’t have turn. Probably, you expect a little bit more wear and tear on fifth day in Indian conditions over the course of five days. This didn’t seem to have that kind of bite,” he added.
Dravid then spoke about his assessment in greater detail. “Generally, in India on day five, spinners can challenge both edges—inside and outside. You know you can beat people on the inside edge and get lbw. But honestly, in this game, the outside edge was virtually ruled out,” he sounded a trifle disappointed.
“Even till the last day, none of the edges carried, very few catches close to the bat, I can’t remember, [KS] Bharat took a couple. It sort of made it feel that there is only one way to get people out, bowled or may be lbw, probably two in last session.
“In spite of that, we were able to prise out nine wickets (8) on the last day, but it was tough but we expected it to be tough in Kanpur. I have played here and I know wickets can be tough,” he said. He felt that with the winter setting in, the cracks didn’t open. “Usually on Day Five, you should get bit more help and cracks to widen up a little bit, may be it’s winter.”
Brief scores
India 345 & 234-7 draw with NZ 296 & 165-9 (T Latham 52, W Somerville 36; R Ashwin 3-35, R Jadeja 4-40)
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