I have captained my last Test match: Daniel Vettori
New Zealand’s captain Daniel Vettori said that he has captained his last Test match on Wednesday against Pakistan that resulted in a draw.
His team was chasing a series-levelling win on the fifth day of the second Test match at the Basin Reserve in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Pakistan-c755 out on a wearing pitch and the tourists ended the five day match on 226 for the loss
of five wickets.
Pakistan won the series 1-0 and with that, Vettori’s three and a half year reign as a captain of the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/New-Zealand-c754 Test cricket team ended.
Vettori, 31 will also be stepping down as the captain of the limited overs team after next month’s World Cup in the sub-continent.
“There are always regrets, you always want to perform better, but I can walk away from captaincy thinking that I have it everything, particularly with my performance,” he stated.
Vettori, who had figures of 1-57 from 34 overs on the final day, said that the result was not what he wanted or expected but admitted that Pakistan played superbly well on the last day.
However, Vettori maintained that he is clear in his mind and will not revert back to his decision of stepping down. He did concede however, that he intended to play Test cricket for as long as he could.
“Test cricket is a part of the game I love. I want to play it as long as I can and there are still things I want to achieve,” Vettori claimed.
Vettori told the media that the highlight of his Test career was when they won against England in 2008 at Hamilton and against Pakistan in 2010 at Dunedin.
He also expressed joy in seeing the young guns of the team stepping up under pressure. He admitted that it was a different squad when he took up the job to lead the side four years ago.
“It’s a vastly different squad now, I think there are some really talented players there,” Vettori reflected.
He reckoned that Ross http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Taylor-c92915, Brendon McCullum, Kane Williamson, Martin Guptill, and Jesse Ryder can successfully carry forward the Kiwis faltering form in recent times.
Vettori also dismissed media's notion that there is a dire need of restructuring the cricket, saying that the key to perform well is to “penetrate as much as possible” and to get the most out of the players.
He however admitted that there was a need of finding fast bowlers that could support the Black Caps’ bowling attack.
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