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Former New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori lauded the Kiwi batters for their performances in their historic series whitewash against India on the Indian soil, pointing out that the Kiwis did the right thing by trusting opener Devon Conway through his lean patch.
Kiwi batters Rachin Ravindra, Conway and Will Young served as pillars as a quality all-round performance helped them hand over India their first-ever series whitewash at home after a 25-run win in the third Test at Wankhede Stadium. Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, Vettori said, "It was so nice for New Zealand to go through Devon's lean patch and trust him and allow him to keep going, because he's a quality player and has performed ever since he's come in to the side, and they backed him and got the reward in this series." Conway was the fourth-highest run-scorer in the series, scoring 227 runs in six innings across three matches at an average of 37.83, with two half-centuries and best score of 91. On Rachin Ravindra, Vettori said that in a short period of time, he has proved his success across all formats. He also lauded Will Young and Daryl Mitchell for contributing to Kiwis' success in India. "Rachin, in a short period of time, has proven how successful he can be in all formats, and in particular in the subcontinent. So to have those two players and a Will Young as well as the others contribute meant that India couldn't put pressure on the batters and New Zealand were aggressive, they took really good options. [Daryl] Mitchell as well in the last Test. So the batting group came together and stood up and put up six really good performances with the bat and that's what you have to do against India. It cannot just be a one-off, it has to be consistent," he added. Ravindra was the second-highest run-getter, making 256 runs in three matches and six innings at an average of 51.20, with a century and fifty. His best score was 91. On the other hand, Young was chosen as the 'Player of the Series' for his consistent performances, including twin fifties in the final Test, scoring 244 runs in six innings across three matches at an average of 48.80, and scored two half-centuries. His best score was 71. Speaking about Mitchell Santner, who took 13 wickets in the second Test at Pune, Vettori said that Kiwis have built trust in him over a long period of time and the way he bowled and read the Indian batters was incredible. He was also highly appreciative of Ajaz Patel, who took 15 wickets, of which 11 came in the final Test at Wankhede Stadium. "Ajaz Patel is just completely consistent. His action is repeatable. The balls he bowls are repeatable with a lovely seam position and he gets a lot of revolutions on it. He was able to consistently put these great Indian batters under pressure. I thought New Zealand set some great fields to allow that pressure to maintain, so all these things in combination put together another incredible Wankhede performance from him," said the former Kiwi great about Ajaz. Vettori was appreciative of all-rounder Glenn Phillips, saying that he is the "real complementary piece to it all." "A number sevem batter who is as aggressive as he is but can offer a lot of overs. I am sure he reflects upon his performances in Bangladesh and that ability to perform in those conditions with bat and ball gave him the confidence to come up against this batting line-up and continue on that form. That allows every other facet of the game to come together. So I think when you look at that team, and what Glenn Phillips was able to contribute, that was a key part of achieving the series victory," he concluded. The entire series was full of collapses for Team India. While in the first Test at Bengaluru, India was skittled out for just 46 runs after electing to bat first on a pace friendly wicket in overcast conditions and in the next innings, they faced another batting collapse just after getting a lead, giving NZ a target of just 107 runs. In the second Test, India did bundle out Kiwis for 259 in the first innings, but themselves faced another poor batting outing to be all out for 156 runs. Later, while chasing 359 runs, Indian stars dissappointed once again, skittling out for 245 runs after being 127/2 at one point. In the third and final Test in Mumbai, it was another low-scoring affair and India was presented it with perhaps its easiest chase of the series: 147 runs. However, except for a fighting fifty from Rishabh Pant, the Indian batting fell like a pack of cards and was bundled out for 121 runs. The trauma of losing a Test series by a whitewash at home, sliding down to second place in World Test Championship (WTC) table could very well fire up Indian team for being at their best during the Border Gavaskar Trophy. The most awaited Border-Gavaskar series between India and Australia will begin on November 22, with the first Test at Perth. India's squad for Border-Gavaskar Series: Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Ravichandran Ashwin, Mohammad Shami, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wk), KL Rahul, Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Washington Sundar. (ANI)
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