Here's why New Zealand players left out their batsmen in post-match celebrations at mountain top

New Zealand outclassed Team India with sheer dominance in the first game of the two-match Test series. They managed to pull off an amazing victory by 10 wickets against the visitors. And, after winning the match they celebrated in a unique way with champagne and smoking cigars on the mountain top that is just a few kilometers away from Basin Reserve.

In the first Test, Kiwi bowlers produced a mind-wobbling performance that blew away the Indian batting line up in both the innings of the match. Tim Southee managed to grab a total of nine wickets followed by Trent Boult’s 5 wickets and Kyle Jamieson’s 4 wickets. The BlackCaps pace attack ripped off the strong line up of visitors that comprises of Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, Cheteshwar Pujara. It was a big victory for the hosts against the ICC number one side in Tests. And, their post-match celebrations emulated their former players.

New Zealand follow decades-long tradition after winning the 1st Test against India

Actually, back in 1998 after New Zealand registered a victory against Men in Blue by four wickets at this same ground. After the conclusion of the game, Dion Nash took the bowlers and wicketkeepers for a ride to the highest point in the city with champagne and cigars in the car. He hired a limousine for the players that can accommodate all the players.

This spontaneous idea became a tradition that was later followed by the upcoming players. There was a question that why batsmen were not part of this celebration. The former player Ian Smith said that the bowlers share a strong bond with wicketkeepers. So, they usually roam all together. Interestingly, it is the choice of glovemen that which all bowlers will go for the happening drive to the top.

However, this tradition came to halt as New Zealand failed to win a single game at Basin Reserve between 2009 and 2013 as they lost three games and four games were ended on a draw. After that, until now the rides to the mountain top have become quite frequent as Kiwi side has managed to win five out of their last nine Tests at the same venue.

According to Indian Express, the same happened after the 1st Test against India as the work was not yet over for wicketkeeper BJ Watling, who was quite busy in hiring a limousine and bought the most expensive champagne in that city with a pack of cigars. After he bought all the things, the BlackCaps wicketkeeper drove his bowlers to the top of Mountain Victoria that was just 2 kilometers away from Basin Reserve. And, it is quite interesting that a normal idea turned into a tradition that is quite applaudable. Moreover, this celebration is just restricted to Basin Reserve only and not anywhere else.

Now, the final game of the two-match series is scheduled to be played at Hagley Oval in Christchurch starting on the 29th of February.

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