Speedster Zaheer Khan on Saturday lauded his junior team-mate Mohammad Shami for his fiery spell on the third day.
"He's a great prospect for Team India and has had some brilliant performances. There is no doubt in my mind that he is a match-winner. That is the way I look at him. A good bowler has this quality to take wickets in bunches, that is what defines a good bowler, and Shami has shown that quality. With experience he is only going to get better," Zaheer said at the post-match presser here.
"It was a brilliant performance from all the bowlers. As a bowling unit, we clicked together. The important thing was that we had some brilliant catching as well in the slip cordon and that was very crucial and it really made the difference," he added.
India face a daunting task of scoring 407 runs to win the first Test against the Black Caps, who suffered a dramatic batting collapse at Eden Park to leave the match wide open.
With three in the second innings, Ishant Sharma had match-figures of 9-162 and the senior pro praised him as well. "Short bowling was our plan in the first innings as we wanted to be aggressive as a bowling unit. Bowling bouncers was an aggressive plan for us. In the second innings, we went in with the approach that we have to focus on bowling the right areas and it worked for us," Zaheer said.