Hyderabad, Nov 14:New Zealand middle-order batsman Jesse Ryder on Saturday expressed disappointed with his team’s performance on Day Two of the second Test against India.
After lifting his side to 350 with a knock of 70 off 120 deliveries, Ryder admitted that his teammates failed to assert themselves.
Excerpts:
On Team India’s bowling performance:
The Indians bowled pretty well and when we lost two quick wickets during the first hour of the day, we were on the backfoot. From thereon, India controlled the proceedings for the better part of the day.
On falling short of expected total:
Ending up at 350 was just not enough for us. I feel, we are at least 100 runs short.
On getting Indian openers- Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag – out on Day Two:
That gave us some breathing space and it will be great if we could get some more purchase on Sunday morning. It definitely helps us, getting the wickets of Sehwag and Gambhir. We were on the back foot during the day while fielding. To take those two wickets at the end definitely helps us out leading into tomorrow.
On Zaheer Khan’s spell:
He was landing the ball in the right areas and that created problems for the batsmen.
On his own performance:
I was striking the ball well. It was important to get my eye in and then go for my shots. I wanted to get a big score but that did not happen.
On Virender Sehwag’s 96:
He played a great knock. He kept India in the hunt with that innings. He played his entire innings in a similar fashion. He always takes risks and it works for him. He was just one shot away from scoring a hundred.
