India vs New Zealand 2021, 2nd Test – Who Said What

By the end of play on Day three, the writing was pretty much on the walls for New Zealand in their second and final Test against India at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. The Kiwis needed 400 runs to win on a slow and low surface with five wickets left in their second innings. It seemed only a matter of time before the Indian team get over the line to win the series 1-0.

At the start of the fourth day’s play, the Black Caps needed 400 runs to win with five wickets in hand. Henry Nicholls and Rachin Ravindra, the two overnight batters, had a colossal task at hand. Ravindra, who helped New Zealand save the Kanpur Test, couldn’t do much. Jayant Yadav accounted for his wicket in the 52nd over with the visiting team’s score at 162 for six.

From there on, the Kiwis had to fight for getting even one run. In the end, they were bowled out for 167 in 56.3 overs. Jayant Yadav ran through the Kiwis’ lower-order batting without much fuss. Nicholls, at the other end, showed nerves of steel and scored 44 runs with eight fours. He became Ashwin’s fourth victim in the innings and the dismissal meant that India won by 372 runs.

Player of the Match- Mayank Agarwal

It feels good to be back among the runs and this knock is special for me. I didn’t change anything from Kanpur, I just had the mental discipline and determination. The technique isn’t going to be the best all the time, it won’t guarantee runs, but the will to fight is key. Rahul bhai told me about not thinking of technique mid-series, and told me this is the technique that’s got me runs. Sunny sir said I should keep my bat low early on in the innings and opening up my left shoulder. I didn’t really think about the second hundred in the match, but should have converted the sixty. We will relish the abroad challenge in South Africa, so we’re looking forward to that too.

New Zealand captain Tom Latham

A disappointing performance from us. Credit to India for putting up a great performance. 62 all-out would always have set us back. You always want to bat first here, and it only gets worse for batting, and it wasn’t how we wanted it to pan out. Guys are able to step up in different conditions and we have managed to get a lot of depth. Very special game for Ajaz, only the third time in the history of the game has a man got all ten. We’re going to play Bangladesh after we get back home and we’re going to start preparation for that series ASAP.

India captain Virat Kohli

To come back with a win is a great feeling, returning as the captain it was a clinical performance, something we’ve seen time and again. You want individuals to step up and guys did that. Even the first Test match was good, this was better. We discussed areas we could improve on, it was also a case of the opposition playing out a good draw and pitch not assisting the bowlers on day five like you expect it to. Here the pitch had a bit more, were able to create more pressure, also because there was more pace and bounce. All in all, the pitch at Wankhede provided the opportunity to play good cricket all around. We all are serving Indian cricket, the previous management did a terrific job, now with Rahul bhai coming in, the mindset is the same. To take Indian cricket forward. It’s a good challenge in South Africa, that was the start of our perseverance to build abroad, Australia was an accumulation of those efforts. We have the belief we can win anywhere. It’s a tough challenge, something we want to achieve, everyone’s motivated.