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Ross Taylor
has said New Zealand's capitulation to R Ashwin and Pragyan Ojha in the
Hyderabad Test was more to do with a mental block against spin than
technical shortcomings. New Zealand lost 18 of their 20 wickets to
Ashwin and Ojha to begin their tour with an innings defeat, in stark
contrast to their previous visit here when they had put India under
pressure in the drawn Ahmedabad Test.
"A little bit of technique but I think most of it is probably in the
mind," said Taylor, who made 2 and 7 in the game and fell both times to
Ashwin. "[It's about] trusting your defence and trusting your attacking
shots. When you get bogged down, it puts a lot of pressure on you and
there was a lot of pressure going out there. It's about rotating the
strike, finding your single options. We are not big players of using our
feet, so we need to create lengths in different ways."
Taylor pointed to New Zealand's highest partnership of the game - Kane
Williamson and Brendon McCullum added 72 for the second wicket in the
second innings - as an example of showing an ability to survive against
spin. "I guess any time you are bowled out for 160 [159 and 164] both
times, you have got to be disappointed. We have three-four days to
rectify that. Obviously spin is an area we need to work on and come back
harder and stronger for Bangalore [in the second Test]. I thought Kane
and Brendon applied themselves really well for a long period of time and
showed that it can be done."
McCullum and Williamson had batted through the truncated morning session
on the fourth day, but the former was given out leg-before when on 42
soon after lunch by umpire Steve Davis off Umesh Yadav. Replays
indicated the ball had hit the bat and pad simultaneously even as a
furious McCullum stormed off swishing his bat.
Taylor was asked about the absence of the Decision Review System.
"Obviously [there is] no DRS. The umpires are human and make mistakes.
It's a part and parcel of cricket. Different parts of the world have
different rules in different sports. It's part and parcel coming to this
part of the world."
New Zealand crumbled after McCullum's dismissal, losing their last nine
wickets for 66 runs, and their last seven for 26. Taylor said India had
put a lot of pressure on the New Zealand batsmen and praised the efforts
of Ashwin and Ojha. "Not only Ashwin, Ojha bowled very well and they
bowled well in tandem. They put a lot of pressure on us, bowled in very
good areas. They are both very good spinners in turning conditions. When
the ball does turn and bounce a lot - when it does turn, it is a lot
easier to play but when it bounces [as it did in this game], it's a
different ball game.
"I guess when you enforce a follow-on and have got a big total, you can
have a lot of men around the bat and [MS] Dhoni did that. Come
Bangalore, we need to be as positive as possible, clear the mind, trust
our defence, but also find a way of scoring runs."
Ashwin felt Bangalore won't be as easy for India as Hyderabad was, and
was pleased with the winning start. "Last time when New Zealand were
here, they batted really well and almost drew the series. But this is a
good start. We knew this was not a venue where we had won the last time,
so came here with a lot of apprehension but at the end of the day, I
thought we did really well as a unit and won the Test in four days.
"I think there will be a much stiffer contest in Bangalore, the [New
Zealand] batsmen will come out with better plans. So we will also have
to be up for it. The team had a tough year [in 2011] but it happens with
every team. We have to put that behind and we are starting on a good
note. Hopefully we can continue and have a great season."
Abhishek Purohit is an editorial assistant at ESPNcricinfo
Feeds: Abhishek Purohit
© ESPN EMEA Ltd.
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