India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels that losing wickets off the second new ball including a poor umpiring decision, proved to be a decisive factorin India’s loss.
India lost Ajinkya Rahane and Rohit Sharma off the second new ball, on either side of the tea-break that became costly in the final outcome of the match. Rahane was adjudged leg-before of Trent Boult despite a big inside edge.
“I am having mixed emotions about this Test match. Close to the 85th over, we lost a few wickets at that point and we had a tough decision (Rahane) at the same time which meant we were short of 30-35 runs and that was the crucial phase,” Dhoni said at the post-match press conference.
Under Dhoni, India now have lost 10 out of their last 11 overseas Test matches but the skipper said that one close Test match like this serves as an experience for three to four normal Test matches.
“Tight games like these give you the experience of three-four Test matches. You learn about the need to break the target down session by session. Hopefully, there will be plenty of players in our dressing room who must have learned a lot out of it,” the skipper said.
Dhoni lamented that throughout this tour, there have been occasions when the team has been in good positions but couldn’t convert them into winning ones. “We have been in good positions this series, in the ODIs also, but we have not been able to capitalise on them. Maybe we are still learning and in the second Test we will capitalise if we get into similar situations.”
Asked about Virat Kohli’s dismissal due to a poor stroke having gor set, Dhoni defended his deputy. “We all know the importance of his (Kohli) wicket. It was not only his dismissal, because we also lost wickets after the 80th over as well.
“The second new ball moved for may be five or six overs. If we would have not given our wickets, we would have got those remaining 40 runs. Also, we had a bad umpiring decision at the same time. So there were quite a few things that did not go our way,” Dhoni came to Kohli’s defence.
Dhoni however complimented his bowlers for their stupendous show in the second innings.
“In the first innings, we didn’t bowl well even though we were good in the first session. The second innings was one of the best bowling performances we have had in the last two-three years especially on a wicket where there was not much assistance. In the second innings, the bowlers really brought us back into the game, and gave us something where we could have said, Yes, this is a big target, but we can look to chase it down,” Dhoni added.
The skipper admitted that India could have done better with both bat and ball in the first innings. “In the first innings, both batting and bowling could have been better. We gave away quite a few loose deliveries to score in the first innings because of which we were at the receiving end. Once you get a couple of batsmen going, it was a wicket where you could have gone on to score big and you can see how Brendon McCullum scored.
Dhoni said that missed catches were a factor but didn’t want to put the blame squarely on fielders. “Yes, there were a few missed catches also, but those are part and parcel of the game. Anyone and everyone can drop catches. I won’t really point to that but yes, that also contributed to some extent.”
On the other hand, New Zealand skipper Brendon McCullum was a relieved man after his decision not to enforce follow-on did not lead to his team’s defeat.
“We thought we have a big total and if we bowl well, that would be enough runs. We know the quality of their batsmen and how they are capable of putting together big scores and big partnerships. At one stage, when they were sitting 220 for 2, we were starting to get ourselves behind the eight-ball and it took something special to get us out of that,” McCullum said.
“You cannot regret any decision (not to enforce follow on and when you make that decision, you put some thought into it. Ultimately someone has got to make that decision and I guess that comes down to me. I made the decision and I never regretted it for a moment. There’s no guarantee we would have bowled out India for 100 in their second innings and I said right at the outset that we have got the bowlers to take 20 wickets. I would hate to see us chase 150-200 on the last day on that wicket with Ravindra Jadeja coming in to play,” McCullum said.
The skipper said he still thought 407-run target was a big enough total for the Indians. “After we decided not to enforce the follow on, we hoped to get a little more than a 100 in our second innings. But that’s what we got and I still thought 400 was a very good target. There are only three teams in the history of the game that have chased over 400. It was still a lot of runs on the board but the wicket was starting to play pretty well as well, so it was always going to be a tough ask and we knew that it was going to be a close contest towards the end,” he said.