JOIN USObviously disappointed at having lost the Test series 0-2 to India, New Zealand skipper Ross Taylor Monday felt that his team had its moments in the second game but did not put sufficient runs on the board to pull off a victory.
At the post-match media conference, Taylor said that though his bowlers tried their best, credit should also go to his counterpart Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Virat Kohli who put on 96 runs for the unfinished sixth wicket to help India get over the line.
“There were a lot of moments during the game. To be honest, we would have liked to score a few more runs in that first innings to put pressure on India," said Taylor.
“We would like to have restricted them to a few less. I wouldn’t put it down to just one little moment. It was just that we lost the Test match over time."
“The bowlers tried their hearts out. They bowled a lot of overs in a short period of time, but you have to give credit to Kohli and Dhoni, they batted very well,” he added.
Asked whether off-spinner Jeetan Patel was under-bowled, Taylor answered: “In the Indian side they have only two quicks, so spinners have to bowl a lot of overs. In our side, we have three quicks, so Jeetan doesn’t have to bowl as much, but I thought he’s improving as a spinner.
“Spinners get better with age and he’s certainly shown that. I thought he bowled some good balls, but didn’t have that much luck. If a little bit of luck went his way he could have had even better figures.
“Going forward, we have got a tour of Sri Lanka coming up and I look forward to seeing him (Jeetan). Hopefully, he can have a big part in that tour as well.”
Taylor opined that the pitch at the Chinnaswamy Stadium here did not spin as much as in Hyderabad where the Kiwis lost the first Test by an innings and 115 runs.
“It didn’t spin as much as Hyderabad. We were disappointed with the way we played in Hyderabad. We wanted to show some fight and courage. I thought the effort from the team was outstanding in this match, but obviously still disappointed in the loss. It hurts, but still proud of the team,” Taylor said.
On his decision to take Patel off the attack after he had claimed three wickets, Taylor said he was wary of Dhoni’s strength in playing spinners and with the ball swinging he opted for seamers.
“The ball was still swinging, and we thought Dhoni likes to play spin and we wanted to take it off from him and bowl it quick. He played and missed a few.
"We could have picked him up and it would have been a different story. That was the decision that I made and you go with hunches every now and then - sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t.”