New Zealand takes a giant leap to the revival of their glory in the history of cricket as they beat India in the two test match series 1-0. The second test ended in a draw but the way in which they salvaged the draw is almost equivalent to a victory. India, on the other hand, will be disappointed for not finishing off the match when they had the proceedings under control. Instead they let the pressure go and enabled the Kiwis to claw back in the match and eventually let go the opportunity to level the series.
Some might say that the couple of dropped catches cost India the game, but that won’t be a proper conclusion to the reasons behind India’s failure to win the match. What hurt India the most was Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s defensive mindset throughout the second innings of NZ. On the morning of the fourth day when the McCullum and Watling resumed their partnership, Dhoni needed to be a bit more aggressive in his field settings and could have tried to pressurize the batsmen and get them out. But quite strangely Dhoni opted for a defensive field and the Kiwi duo made merry of that opportunity to post a huge total.
On the final day when New Zealand declared their second innings they had alread0y scored 680 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. McCullum became the first Kiwi to score a triple hundred. Finally when he got out for 302 and had saved New Zealand from the jaws of defeat, he received a standing ovation which he deserved. New Zealand had a lead of 435 runs over India. two results seemed possible- the most obvious being a draw and the other was India’s defeat, especially when India’s recent records show that they crumbled down in test matches in less than fifty overs.
India did not lose the match though the home team had the visitors in trouble at 54/3, with both the openers-Murali Vijay and Shikhar Dhawan, and Cheteshwar Pujara back in the pavilion. It was again up to Virat Kohli who slammed the 6th test hundred in test matches to save India from an embarrassing defeat. Rohit Sharma gave him good support at the 
other end. In the end with one hour left in the match the match was called a draw by the umpires with the consent of both captains; with Kohli and Rohit Sharma not out at the crease.
With this draw, India’s run without a test victory abroad stretches to 12. These are really ominous signs for Indian cricket as their failure in test series abroad is not new. It only changed during the period when Sourav Ganguly was the captain of the Indian team and the Dravids and Tendulkars and Kumbles playing in the Indian outfit. These defeats, most importantly against a team like New Zealand who were ranked 8th in the ICC Test Rankings (currently 7th after the end of the series), should put Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s captaincy under the scanner. Dhoni who is considered by many experts as the best captain in modern cricket (according to some experts) should not be put in the same bracket as that of the other greatest captains in the history of cricket, since it’s a team’s performance in unfamiliar conditions that shows the captain’s greatness, not series wins in homely and friendly pitches.
Tags: Brendon McCullum Cheteshwar Pujara Dhoni India vs New Zealand Mahendra Singh Dhoni Murali Vijay New Zealand wins series Rahul Dravid Rohit Sharma Sachin Tendulkar second test draws Shikhar Dhawan Sourav Ganguly Virat Kohli Wellington test
