Still, India’s batting should not take the focus away from their atrocious catching in the New Zealand innings. It is a long time since they have dropped so many catches close to the wicket. When you consider that the team has three players with 100-plus catches in Tests, it might be tempting, in the modern spirit, to call this their best catching side. But the habit of
not catching can be catching.

Much is being made of the fact that the New Zealand authorities have been excessively kind to India by preparing wickets that have drawn the teeth of their own seam bowling. Wasim Akram has called it cowardice. It is not that, but professional respect for opponents who have the better seam bowlers. The hosts will have to take a chance, however, for the final Test in
Wellington and go with a track that could just as easily backfire on them. But at 0-1 down you have to take the risk.

With that casual insouciance that comes easily to columnists who write on the game, I had predicted a 3-0 win for India after the first Test, and spent much of the first half of the Napier Test wondering how to make more palatable the words I was about to eat. Some years ago, one writer published a photograph of himself literally eating his words (and washing it down with
wine). It is more difficult to do now, since swallowing a computer is not easily done. So, I have a little more reason than the rest of India to thank Messrs Gambhir, VVS Laxman, Tendulkar and Dravid.

It's amazing that Mr. Menon got through the entire article without once praising Jesse Ryder and his teammates for their batting performance, and for bowling India out cheaply in the first innings. India are ranked much higher than NZ; it is hardly a great accomplishment that they managed to save the Test against a modest bowling attack on a flat track. It is a much bigger deal that NZ dominated the first three days of play, and they deserve full credit.

is this Suresh Menon the same lad who played for St Joseph's College in Bangalore in the last century ! (actually 1978 to 80 )if this be the genuine article I remember him as an equisite bat with flair and awesome timing. Long live wasted talent!! fortunately his writing is as good as I remember his batting used to be.

We can't thank Dravid, Sachin, Laxman, and Gambir enough for saving this test. On a personal note, I enjoyed watching Dravid bat than the rest in this test since he caused me less anxiety than the others. He is simply THE BEST for saving a test. This might be the zillionth time someone might have said this, but he is probably the only batsman in the world who could make defensive batting look absolutely beautiful and watchable.

Wow !what a promising introduction Mr Menon.This Indian team really showed character in the way it played in the 2nd innings.Don't remember any such innings in the recent past.I think newzealand will be better off preparing a green wicket and give themselves a chance to get even

This indeed was a good draw for Indian fans who have seen this same lineup fold in 70 overs on last day. This is yet another sign, apart from winning abroad, that this team is intent on righting many wrongs. Indian fans have been disappointed for so long and have seen many false dawn but this team promises to be soothing balm on those wounds. ODI world cup win is not far fetched for this team.

Obviously Sachin belongs in that group except he is being preserved

To be honest the pitch was a belter... the indian batsmen made a fool of themselves in the first innings...vettori said in the end that the test match could have gone for 3 more days..so its nothing great to save a test match on this pitch..but having said that, India has seldom been able to salvage a draw when down the dumps in the second innings (not taking away the full credit away from them).

In a recent interview on US public televison Imran Khan when asked about the attraction cricket holds, described it as the chess of sports. How true indeed ! This India-NZ test was a draw but yet so mesmerizing. I am an India fan but would have been happy had NZ pulled of a victory based on the first innings performance. However, at the same time the manner in which Gambhir/Laxman/Dravid/Tendulkar batted to prevent a NZ victory was commendable and a draw is quite appropriate. One hopes the wicket in next test will be fair to bowlers too.

Have to agree with S. Sen. It was a far greater achievement for a struggling number 8 test side in the world to pile on 600+ runs and bowl out the Indians cheaply rather than the worlds best batting team to bat 180 overs on a dead pitch.

Well, this was the day we all have been waiting for a long long time. Win matches & Save those that you can't Win. It has been a tremendous effort that when the bowlers can't do much (not their fault), the bastmen should stand up. And they just did exactly that in the 2nd innings covering up the mistakes they did in the 1st. A Win is what we all expect but a draw in this case is equally gratifying. That's what great teams do. "A STRONG LESSON LEARNT". Don't live on your past. Every game is different. Focus and try to win the next one. This is a team with right balance and I think we should do it now. Newzealand have shown they are competitive. Well its interesting to see what happens in the 3rd. Good luck folks!!!!!

Ummm, this was a wicket where New Zealand(!) scored more than 600. If India hadn't have strolled through their second innings against tired bowlers ranked second last in the world on a dead pitch, they would have to be ashamed of themselves.

I really don't buy into the argument that the Kiwis played as well as it seemed. Not being able to take 10 wickets in 2 days and almost a third of another day is unforgiveble. No matter how flat the pitch was and the Indians were following on in foriegn conditions for goodness sake.
Jesse Ryder has done well so far but his real challenge will come soon when teams start analyzing his batting to pick on technical flaws. His record away is not as great and his lack of footwork is going to be an issue on spinning tracks in the sub-continent pitches.

Pradeep - I cannot agree with you more. You are absolutely correct. Dravid is still the best as he was the one who laid foundation on day 3 and 4 for others to follow. He raised the bar of defensive batting and passing the time to save a test. This test is almost like a victory for India. I am so glad that as always, Dravid has also contributed immensely in this test along with Gautam, Laxman, and Sachin. Raina should be made ready to replace Yuvraj if Yuvi cannot handle the test cricket. That pressure will make him feel more responsible. Yuvi also needs to practice against Hrabhajan, Sehwag, Sachin, and other spinners. Well done - Team India.

India have made some amazing run chases in the fourth innings when they have a fair chance of winning,but when fighting to save the match they have not done so well as they did at Napier.It confirms India's new reputation as an aggressive and confident outfit.As Suresh menon pointed out this draw is as satisfying as a win.

As I could read from the viewers' comments on this article, the biggest happiness achieved from this test is seeing Dravid bat like as well as he only can and take charge as backbone of Indian batting once again. The man is poised for yet another round for another 3 years or so, given his fitness and passion. Along with him,Sehwag,Gambhir, Sachin, Laxman, Dhoni and Yuvi in the form of their lives,and Zak anf Ish bowling, all the best to teams around the world.

Agreed that India were playing a lowly ranked team; agreed also that they batted poorly to get all out for about 300 runs. But the resilience of the team has to be admired. To be able to immediately rectify your mistakes and bat out some 180 odd overs is not easy for most teams, however weak the opponent's bowling is. And to do that by losing only 4 wickets is tremendous. The icing on the cake is that a loss would have meant a must win situation to notch up a rare series win in New Zealand. Seen in all these perspectives, I don't feel that we need to be so overly critical of our players.

True Menon fails to point out the batting heroics of Ryder and co, but what's wrong in saluting the Indian heroics. Understandably, in the first Innings, the Indians got out largely by some poor shots, but they returned back brilliantly. If winning test matches are the only important criteria to assess a team, then pulling back a draw from a near-losing sight is also commendable. Don't forget the hosts didn't give anything easy to the Indians. We had to play hard. So give it to them folks

Henry - In my opinion Rohit Sharma is a far better test player than both Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina. For some reason the selectors insist on playing him in T20s and One-dayers and not test matches. Agreed, he did well in the T20 world cup and IPL, but sooner or later people would realize he doesn't belong in the shorter versions of the game. Same is the case with Yuvraj, I don't think he belongs in the test arena. I believe he doesn't have the temperament or the technique for the test matches, but I would also like to believe that the selectors and the Indian team management know the players' game a lot better than me.

Totally out of context - Jesse Ryder is a once in a generation player for New Zealand. Congrats to the New Zealand Cricket for finding him and all the cricket fans all over the world. I hope for our sake he remains sober and we get to see a lot more of him in the future.

ASK INDIA TO IMPROVE THE FIELDING STANDARDS,THEN EVERYTHING WILL FALL INTO PLACE

its nice to see indian batsmen perform when the chips are down, they could have easily folded up. i hope more good things are in store in Indian cricket. the current team looks so good with mix of experience and youth. also it will be good to give more chances to youngsters whenever the chances arise so that we will have good bench strength. Go India..

I do not agree totally with S Sen....Agreed we were playing on a flat track but the fact is that it is absolutely an accomplishment to bat out for 180 overs under pressure! We could have lost the match if we had not shown this detrmination in the 2nd innings.....obviuosly if we would have batted the same way in the 1st innings we could have totally avoided such a scenario..it really had to do more with complacency that we messed up in the 1st innings rather than some great bowling.....If we would have batted first we probably would have scored 800+.....Ryder is a good batsman but yet has to be tested away....only time will tell..

After being bowled for about 300 runs ,i think it was really a sound performance from the Indians to come back in the 2nd inns with such a bang in such a limited space of time,it showed a lot of courage and will power these men from india have .VVS is really getting to show his class at his new position at number 5,he is a very classy player and comming at 5 is definitly the place for him.As for Gambir he is just outstanding,he along with NZ new find Jessy Ryder, cricket definitely has a bright future.

P.nicholls - Jesse Ryder's only other overseas Test series was in Bangladesh, his debut series, where he averaged 59.66. Not sure where you're getting you're stats to justify the "his away record is not as great" and his alleged difficulties on spinning tracks.

All of you are missing the fact that India dropped a lot of catches that allowed NZ to score such a big total. Then in India's first innings batting they threw away couple of wickets. It was not earned by the bowlers. if both teams apply themselves well, NZ with home condition advantgae, India is ahead by good margin. The rankings don't matter as much and all the teams are pretty close - it's not that the last team can not come to click in one match. Rankings reflect past consistency.

I was among those eager Indian's, who wanted to see, if India could draw the Test Match. In that context, the match was an anticipated one, even though the match could not be won, neither by New Zealand, nor by India. This Test Match, bodes well for cricket. The drawn match has importance, if the draw can make the series a decisive series, instead of a drawn series. Even if New Zealand had won the match, I am sure that India would have won the series, in hindsight. I hope that I am not wrong, in this regard, later.

I am watching the game very closely since 1986 and this has been India's best performance in New Zealand. A 2-0 victory in the test series would have been a great topping on the Cake.

International cricket started in 1877.Various countries have entered at different stages.A country like ours(India) where there is so much of craze for the game and is the financial epicentre requires more success to be among the best cricketing nations in the world.Mind you,every other country,sometimes even with lesser talent have enjoyed success.Agreed,we have produced some great players,but never have tasted wins over a longer period and everywhere.Things are changing now,though it will take time for us to be among the best nations in the game.It is a delight to watch the Indian team these days,be it any format,anywhere in the world.Have patience with a player of the calibre of Yuvraj in test cricket.