New Zealand are turning out to be one team which India are finding really hard to beat in Tests. In the last 20 years, In India 3 wins & 8 draws, while in New Zealand, 1 win, 4 draws & 3 losses. Even with a Test series victory India lost ranking points. For the Kiwis the result must have been a real morale booster following the pathetic display in Bangladesh (4-0 loss in ODIs). Here are some of the highlights of the series.
Kane Williamson scored a century on Test debut after a couple of ducks in his first 2 ODIs. Jesse Ryder was injured but still was their best batsman by quite a distance. And the Phantom, Chris Martin almost took them to victory singlehandedly with that spell in Ahmedabad. McCullum scored a double in Hyderabad.
Harbhajan Singh's batting provided the biggest cheers for India whlie his bowling was a letdown. (Best Comment after the second Test - Harbhajan the batsman is the reason why India aren't 1-0 down in the series while Harbhajan the bowler is the reason why they aren't 1-0 up). VVS Laxman came up with another in-crisis match saving innings. Dravid & Gambhir worked there way back to form whle Sachin was kept waiting for his 50th century, Sehwag played like Sehwag. Raina contributed more with the ball than with the bat. And people have started questioning his place now. Nothing much to write about in the bowling department though. Zaheer is the best bowler by a mile. Ironically, India took 20 wickets in the Test he did not play in.
So the Kiwis are done and dusted. And India now proceed to South Africa. Nice times for a cricket fan. Start the day with Ashes and then look over to spend the evening with a test series between the top 2 ranked nations. In between there is a 5 ODI series also to take place.
P.S. post was delayed due to following the ongoing Asian Games & the Bihar election results.
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