Ex-New Zealand bowler Neil Wagner has gone back to the renowned 2014 Test fixture at Eden Park, Auckland, in which India pursued a record 407-run target in the fourth innings. Recalling the game, Wagner explained how he managed to trouble Virat Kohli with his short-ball tactics, while MS Dhoni seemed much more calm against the same onslaught.
This Test match, I recall the wicket being very flat, but there was some pace and bounce. Eden Park is very small on the straight, but the square boundaries there are pockets which are useful. I recall bowling a few bouncers and how they played it, and especially [Virat] Kohli looked a bit disturbed.". He didn't know if he should take it on or not and how to play,” Wagner, 39, said on the Red Inker Cricket Podcast.
In the early phase of his Test career, Kohli was still finding his way in overseas conditions, especially against aggressive fast bowling. Wagner described how the Indian star looked uncertain when confronted with rising deliveries.
"The concept was attempting to go cross and outside eyeline. He (Kohli) attempted to pull it in front of square because there's cover out. Him attempting to pull it in front of square, he simply got a toe end on it and it carried through to BJ Watling. He received a bottom edge on it and it formed a mode to some extent," Wagner said.
Kohli did score a gritty 67 in that innings, but the New Zealand pacer noted how his approach left openings for the bowlers to exploit.
In sharp contrast, Wagner remembered Dhoni as being calm and unfazed by the short-ball barrage. Together with Ravindra Jadeja, the then India captain stitched a crucial 54-run partnership that kept India in the hunt.
Then Dhoni and Jadeja seemed like they were going to run it down and play a magnificent innings. Dhoni didn't seem like it was troubling him that much. It was all about playing the positive and attacking option for us and not being scared whatsoever," Wagner said.
This was when Wagner supported his gut feeling and produced a turning point. "I was like going to bowl a slower ball bouncer to Dhoni. I did and he chopped it on, and I was stunned by it. The faith that I gained out of that and trusting your gut feeling made me feel like gaining some confidence and some belief in myself," he further added.
India's gallant chase spearheaded by Kohli, Shikhar Dhawan, and then Dhoni-Jadeja were kept at bay. Wagner's 4/62 finished off the game for New Zealand. India were bowled out for 366, 40 runs short.
In retrospection, Wagner's musings expose not just the contrast in two of Indian cricket's greatest captains' batting techniques but also a turning point in his own career. While Kohli went on to dominate foreign conditions in the subsequent years, Wagner still delights in the memory of getting Dhoni out with a nicely executed short-ball trap.
