India head coach Rahul Dravid was indeed pleased by the efforts of his bowlers to eke out 9 New Zealand wickets on Day 5 of the recently-concluded Kanpur Test, which ended in a thrilling draw as New Zealand’s last pair, debutant Rachin Ravindra and Number 11 Ajaz Patel, survived for 52 balls before bad light ended play.
Needing 9 more wickets to win the Test on Day 5, the Indian bowers went wicketless in the first session as opener Tom Latham and night-watchman William Somerville kept the hosts at bay.
Rahul Dravid stated that the pitch was slow and had low bounce; there was neither the quickness nor the extra bounce to trouble the batters.
“I guess the facts of the pitch were that it was probably low and slow, didn’t have that much of bounce and turn. You probably expect a little bit more of wear and tear on these wickets in Indian conditions over the course of five days. It just didn’t seem to have that kind of bite,” Rahul Dravid said while speaking at the press conference.
The Indian bowlers bowled with great discipline to scalp out 4 wickets each in the second and third sessions, but they weren’t able to prise out the last wicket.
Dravid said that the pitch didn’t deteriorate as they had expected it to. He explained that the batters were barely beaten on the outside edge throughout the Test.
“It’s generally in India on Day Five where you can challenge both edges, at least the spinners can challenge the outside edge for the catches and beat people on the inside edge for the lbw.
“In this game, the outside edge was virtually ruled out, and even till the last day none of the edges were carried. I can’t even remember a catch close to the edges. I think Bharat took a couple but other than that, it felt there was only one way to get people out which is bowled and lbw, which was probably true in the last session,” the coach elaborated.
The legendary batsman was effusive in praise for the bowlers for their concerted effort of giving India a shot at victory.
“Inspite of that, I think we did a great job in prising out nine wickets on the last day. I have played in Kanpur before but it was slower and lower than I have experienced anything here before,” he added.
The second Test is scheduled to commence on Friday in Mumbai, where India will welcome back Virat Kohli.
