Bangalore, Aug 31 (IANS) Bowling in the right areas and keeping it simple paid rich dividends, said left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha who came away with four wickets against New Zealand on the first day of the second cricket Test here Friday.
While the Kiwis rattled up 328/6, Ojha admitted that rival skipper Ross Taylor batted well and that the visitors batted aggressively which was their play. However, the Hyderabadi said he was ready to open the bowling in the morning.
“(Skipper Mahendra Singh) Dhoni-bhai was very clear. He told me once the toss was over that I’m going to open the bowling and I was quite ready for it.
“It was a good first day wicket. It wasn’t doing much. They were trying to be aggressive – that’s what their game plan was. Ross played quite well, but nevertheless, we got six wickets on day one. I think everybody bowled quite well,” asserted Ojha.
As for his bowling plan, Ojha said he stuck to a disciplined approach and maintained a straight line to make the batsmen play every delivery.
“I kept myself blank. I didn’t want to think too many things. I knew it was a new ball and it wasn’t going to grip. The best thing was to be disciplined and bowl to a straight line where the batsman has to play every ball.
“I got the new ball because there was some moisture in the wicket which sometimes grips a bit so he (Dhoni) wanted me to use that,” he pointed out.
Ojha said that it would be a good track to bat on but he couldn’t predict how it will turn out over the next few days.
“It’s day one, so we cannot predict things. There was some slow turn. The way things are, it’s a good wicket to bat on. I’m quite confident the batsmen are going to get runs for us,” he said.
Ojha had a word of praise for seamer Zaheer Khan who picked up a wicket and looked the pick of the bowlers.
“Zak bhai bowled superbly. He was unfortunate there was one catch dropped. Had that catch been taken, it would have been a different story at that point because the ball was doing a bit.
“Umesh (Yadav) bowled well, Ash (Ravichandran Ashwin) also. Everyone supported each other. Taking six wickets on the first day on a wicket which was not doing much, I think we did quite well,” said Ojha.
