Desperate to square series, Vettori open to risky decisions

Wellington, April 02: Desperate to square the series, New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori said his team would not shy away from taking risks if it promises victory in the third and final Test against India.

Trailing the series 0-1, Vettori said the Kiwis wouldn`t mind risks like a sporting declaration when it came to squaring the series.

"It is not a line of thinking I always think along, but we realise a 1-1 series draw would be a great result for us," Vettori said on the eve of the Test.

"So any opportunity that we have to win the Test match, I think we have to take. If that means putting ourselves under pressure with a loss, yeah we`ll definitely go down that road," Vettori said.

The Kiwi captain said he was anxious to win the toss to invite India to bat and bowl them out cheaply in the first innings.

"If we could dismiss India relatively cheaply first up, it would be ideal. But a lot will depend on the wicket and the overhead conditions tomorrow. We obviously need to bowl India out pretty early on to give us a chance," said Vettori.

The 30-year-old left-arm spinner was disappointed with the surface here and said, "I haven`t seen a Basin wicket as brown as this or as dry or as hard as this before. So I will say it doesn`t fit the bill. But that isn`t to say that it is not a good Test match wicket."

"It is difficult to say how it will play. Jeetan (Patel) has played on it and he said it had a bit of bounce, didn`t do much and was a pretty good batting wicket as the game went on," Vettori said.

"You normally expect the Basin wicket to have a bit in it. It settles down and day two and three are pretty good batting days. Then there is some inconsistent bounce later on. It doesn`t really turn here. There were expectations that this might suit us. But we have to wait and see," said Vettori.

Asked if he had a say in the preparation of the pitch, the bespectacled spinner said, "We get asked about what we want from a wicket but it`s still the groundsman prerogative to produce the wicket he wants to. We always talk about when a team from the subcontinent comes to town we generally want a wicket with a bit of bounce in it. Like I said for this Test we were expecting a traditional Basin Reserve wicket.”

"I can`t say how it will play. We have to wait and see. Either praise it at the end of the Test or be unhappy, so we will wait and see," he added.

The Kiwi skipper didn`t think too much about India`s four successive defeats at the Basin Reserve.

"We haven`t really thought about it. We just go into every Test match to win. We have gone through a number of situations as to how we are going to implement that win and most importantly how we can take 20 Indian wickets," he said.

Bureau Report