Through a mix of skills, imperfections and changes in the pitch’s behaviour, the opening day in Kanpur held the attention in a manner befitting of the occasion of a landmark Test
Sidharth Monga in Kanpur22-Sep-20161:49
Agarkar: Consistency was key for Santner
Kane Williamson the Test captain has big boots to fill. In the World T20, for example, not one press conference would go without a question on the leadership of Brendon McCullum, how New Zealand were going to miss him, and how Williamson was going to carry forward McCullum’s legacy. Williamson is his own man, he leads in his own way, and New Zealand fans would have hoped that Williamson would dissociate himself from McCullum’s habit of not winning tosses. It’s early days – Williamson came into this series with an even record – but if there was ever a series a visiting captain wanted to win tosses in, it is one in India, against this Indian Test side.Tough surface to score on, agree Vijay and Santner
On where the match is right now
Vijay: “I think we are in a good position. We have put the runs on the board. All we got to do now is to go there, put pressure on them while bowling. It is a good total to play around with.”
Santner: “After losing the toss, I think we are in a reasonably good position. It was pretty flat to start with. They did bat well. We were lucky we got a few wickets here and there to pull it back. Obviously, we have to pick up this last wicket and then bat well, build partnerships.”
On the nature of the pitch
Vijay: “I won’t say it was difficult. It was difficult to score runs on this wicket. We have got to have a plan B, and patience. We have got to rethink our shot selection and stuff like that, and come back in the second innings and put up a better show.”
Santner: “The more you’re on the wicket, the more used you are going to get in terms of the surface getting a little harder to bat on, maybe. If you bowl in the right areas, it’s still quite hard to play. I guess you just have to do it for a longer period of time and then go from there.”
Especially on this Green Park pitch, which was dry, which had cracks, but which was watered enough in the lead-up to make sure it didn’t break up on day one. The humidity must have made it worse for New Zealand. You could see they were looking to bang the ball in, not just to test India against the short ball, but to rough it up for reverse swing. The first rule of reverse swing is no moisture on the rough side, but you can imagine how tough it would have been to execute that for Mark Craig, whose kit was dripping wet even before the end of the first session. You have been called upon to do a job in the first session of the series, you are looking to find the right length on a new pitch, but can you mind the sweat please while you are at it?”It’s very tough when you’re sweating quite a bit, but you just have to find a way to keep the ball dry to try get the reverse swing,” Mitchell Santner said. “Even for the spinners, to try and keep your hands dry is key to grip the ball.”It wasn’t helping that New Zealand’s spinners had shown that they were not versatile enough to be threatening on a surface that wasn’t yet doing much for them. It might be a slightly unfair expectation for bowlers who are rarely called upon to do the job on good surfaces. Yet, there were technical shortcomings, as noticed by Simon Doull on commentary. Santner doesn’t use his non-bowling arm much, which denies him dip and drift; Ish Sodhi’s release is beyond the perpendicular, which denies him sideways turn. These things begin to matter less when the pitch starts to turn square, which it wasn’t. So, they kept getting cut and pulled.Cheteshwar Pujara and M Vijay were now putting on a workshop on how to demoralise spinners who are unfamiliar with the conditions. Pujara frequently left his crease to take balls on the full or on the half-volley. Both Pujara and Vijay were alert to cut when this act forced the spinners to pitch short. Also, it has seemed New Zealand’s spinners have come more prepared for square turners where accuracy is more important. That’s what Daniel Vettori told Santner.”Our conversation was more about bowling the ball in one area for a longer period of time but still having plenty on it,” Santner said. “Not try and do too much, let the wicket come and play its part. With not so much turn, you try and be patient and build more dots, try and get wickets that way through false shots.”You can’t overnight become different kind of bowlers, but what will hurt New Zealand is that the spinners couldn’t stay as accurate as they would have wanted to on a slow pitch. “The wicket is on the slower side and it is difficult to score runs,” Vijay said. “That’s what we felt. It is going to be difficult for them as well with the quality of Ashwin and Jadeja in the side.””Yeah, I guess we might have been on the shorter side, but it’s about trying to find the pace that will suit for that wicket,” Santner said. “It might change in the second innings, I don’t know.”New Zealand’s bowlers were still going at 3.2 an over when things began to change. Around half-way into the day, Pujara got quite close to the pitch of a ball from Santner. There wasn’t a lot of distance for the ball to travel, but the ball still turned. It spooned off the outer half of the bat for an easy return catch. The ball had begun to turn now. The techniques mattered a little less, and New Zealand dipped into their reserves.This was a day when it seemed this new batting core will finally put things past a side when it’s down without any dramas. Pujara and Vijay had been fantastic, but they left the door ajar, which the rest failed to shut. Virat Kohli possibly came in looking to dominate. He is that kind of a player. He has been itching to dominate a touring side with the bat. This was his opportunity, he possibly thought. When you see a partnership of 112 at a fairly brisk pace, you don’t want to lose that momentum as the batsman going in. Neil Wagner played on the batsman’s ego, and drew the top edge.M Vijay admitted that it was a combination of poor shot selection and the deteriorating surface that had cost India•Associated PressAjinkya Rahane will be the first one to admit he didn’t move forward enough to be playing the defensive shot off the front foot. This was the mode of dismissal that had troubled him last year, but he overcame it. Rahane will be working to overcome this too. Vijay said the whole team will be.”A bit of both,” Vijay said. “We got out to loose shots as well. The wicket was deteriorating as well. We have got to be really patient on this wicket. It is a lesson learnt. We will, hopefully, put up a better show in the second innings.”The biggest lesson to learn is there for Rohit Sharma, who fell to a nothing loft, 20 minutes before stumps, giving Trent Boult the opportunity to run through the lower order. Vijay, though, extended Rohit the leeway that he didn’t to himself. After calling his dismissal a “bad shot selection”, he wasn’t as harsh on Rohit.”That’s his area, I guess,” Vijay said. “When it comes off, it always looks good. When it doesn’t, you fall on the wrong side. So I think we still got to back our instincts and play because we are playing in a sport where have got to win matches rather than just participate in a team. Whatever has got you here, you have to back that.”In the end, through the wonderful mix of skills, imperfections, passing of time, changes in the pitch, the toll of weather that Test cricket is, we had a day’s play befitting the occasion that India’s 500th Test has somehow become. Both teams – India because they have Ashwin and Jadeja, New Zealand because they made a comeback and because the turn is slow – could lay claim to holding the advantage.
