Sour taste of defeat a good lesson

Wellington – The sour taste of a 10-wicket loss to New Zealand in the first Test had been a good lesson for India’s cricketers and there was no doubt they would be far more competitive in the second in Christchurch, coach Ravi Shastri (right) said.

The visitors had won their previous seven International Cricket Council World Test Championship matches to lead the standings on 360 points before they were hammered at the Basin Reserve.

Shastri, however, said his side had learned a lot about how New Zealand would bowl to them at Hagley Oval when the game started today and the sting of defeat was on their minds as they look to level the two-match series.

“We were outplayed in the first Test but I always believe that a shake-up like that is good. It opens your mindset,” Shastri told reporters in Christchurch yesterday.

“If you have not tasted defeat you can have a closed or fixed mindset. Here, when you see what has happened, it is good, it gives you opportunities to learn.

“You know what New Zealand are doing and what to expect. It’s a good lesson and the boys are up for the challenge.”

New Zealand pace bowler Trent Boult agreed that the Indians would definitely have learned and adapted after the hosts bogged them down in Wellington.

Boult and his new ball partner Tim Southee took 14 of the 20 wickets to fall in Wellington and will welcomed back Neil Wagner after he missed the first game to attend the birth of his first child.

“We’re definitely expecting them to adapt pretty quickly and be positive. Their records speak for themselves,” Boult said.

“They’re number one in the world for a reason and that’s solely because they have an almost ingrown ability to be able to adapt to any conditions that they play in.” – Reuters