Adam Parore: Vettori's gamble bears fruit

Adam Parore

New Zealand made a gutsy call with the team selection in Wellington and it paid off fairly well on the first day against India.

I'm sure Daniel Vettori would have been desperate to play the spinner Jeetan Patel because he did a very good job in Napier.

But being 1-0 down in the series, and knowing they had to win, Vettori put all his eggs in one basket and gambled on bowling first with a side stacked with seam bowlers.

It's always a big call choosing to bowl first in tests, but New Zealand's best chance lay with using the first day conditions to rip through the powerful Indian batting lineup.

And they should be very satisfied with their work, especially after India reached 160 for two and looked set for an exceptionally big total.

It could have backfired of course, had India won the toss and decided to put New Zealand in to bat.

That would have meant New Zealand bowling last on a deteriorating wicket without Patel.

I think the team selection and the move to bowl first reflects the nature of the Black Caps' dressing room.

They have a couple of cricketing gamblers in there, notably Vettori and Brendon McCullum, who know you have to take risks to win.

The aim now is for New Zealand to get a lead of about 100, and although India's tail found a way of pinching a lot of bonus runs, New Zealand's batting is capable of achieving that sort of lead. If they do, New Zealand are in a prime position to win this match.

India will be disappointed in their batting, because their world-class players got out to a number of poor shots. Sachin Tendulkar played a few dicey ones, looking to get the ball over the slips, and it shows that even the greatest of players have days when they are not completely at their best.

The New Zealand bowlers weren't what I would call outstanding, but they did enough to create the chances.

The decision to leave Patel out reflected the risks Vettori believed he needed to take to have the best chance to win the game and draw the series.

It meant the automatic inclusion of Tim Southee and there has been a bit of discussion around whether he is physically and mentally ready for test cricket, and whether he and New Zealand would be better served by his return to domestic cricket for a season or so.

I would keep him in the Black Caps set-up. There is no other way to learn the test match game - and thus bring out the best in a player - than by playing test matches. The extra day involved in tests changes the nature of the game.

And Southee strikes me as a young player who rises to the challenge.