Daniel Vettori credits India whitewash to key New Zealand strategy: 'Ashwin and Jadeja in particular...'
Former cricketer Daniel Vettori analysed New Zealand's performance vs India, and pointed out a strategy which was a game-changer.
It was another batting collapse as India crumbled to a 25-run defeat against New Zealand in the third and final Test, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. New Zealand cruised to a 3-0 whitewash, and outplayed India in all departments.
Speaking to ESPNCricinfo, New Zealand legend Daniel Vettori pointed out a key aspect in the visiting side's win, which was how they faced Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin.
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Daniel Vettori makes key analysis
"Obviously a lot of planning has gone on. I think the hardest thing going to India is the ability to score runs against [Ravindra] Jadeja and [R] Ashwin, and on this tour you had Kuldeep [Yadav] in the first Test and Washington [Sundar] in the last two. So the gameplan to score runs against bowlers like those was impeccable, and allowed New Zealand to put pressure on India, which is so rare," he said.
"When you go to India, you feel like you're hanging on for dear life most of the time. But it felt like in all three Tests, New Zealand made the running, and that's really so unique in that part of the world.
"I think it was the batting. When you tour India and come up against Ashwin and Jadeja in particular, with their immense home record, the planning goes into firstly negating their wicket-taking ability and then secondly how you're going to score runs. It just looked like New Zealand had such a good gameplan to be able to take on those two and find ways to score runs and actually put some pressure back on India," he added.
It is also the first time India have been whitewashed in a home series of three or more Tests. This is also the first time that New Zealand have won three Tests in a series home or away and first time they have bagged three successive away Tests. The result also sees India fall in a tricky position in the WTC table and the upcoming Border-Gavaskar Trophy will be crucial to their qualification to the final.
