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Appointed prior to the Australia series in 2017, Sunil Joshi has been trying to get Mehidy Hasan and company not to worry when they get hit and instead keep looking for wickets

Shashank Kishore in Dubai27-Sep-2018November 13, 2000, Dhaka. Sunil Joshi walks in with India’s middle order wobbling after Bangladesh have made 400 in the first innings of their inaugural Test. India are still 164 behind and have only four wickets left. Joshi is greeted by a chirping Akram Khan at first slip. That it’s coming from a debutant amuses him, but he keeps his composure and makes a career-best 92 to give India a 29-run lead. Joshi then picks up three wickets in the second innings to go with his five-for in the first and is named Man of the Match. India win by nine wickets.Seventeen years later, Bangladesh arrive in Hyderabad to play another historic Test match. The BCB are searching for a spin consultant and ask Anil Kumble, then the India coach, for options. Joshi’s name figures in their shortlist, and Akram Khan, one of his victims in that inaugural Test, eventually facilitates the signing of a formal contract.On Friday, at the Asia Cup final, both Akram and Joshi will be in the same camp, plotting against not just India’s batsmen, but also helping Bangladesh tackle Kuldeep Yadav, Yuzvendra Chahal and Ravindra Jadeja.It will be an emotional moment for Joshi – his one-year contract is up for renewal, so there is a possibility that this could be his final game with the boys he’s developed a rapport with. The BCB has given him “positive feedback”, and while talks have been ongoing, a decision is still awaited.As Joshi looks back at his one year in charge of Bangladesh, he picks out the marked improvement in the mindset of the spinners as the biggest gain. There’s special praise for Mehidy Hasan, an offspinner who is among the “more complete bowlers of his kind” along with India’s R Ashwin.Joshi saw the 20-year old Mehidy on the first day of his job, prior to the Australia series at home, and told him: ‘you will win us the series.’ Bangladesh didn’t quite do that, but still managed to record their first-ever Test win against Australia, with Mehidy picking up five wickets in Mirpur.Mehidy had nervously watched David Warner and Steven Smith whack balls at training. Two days ahead of the first Test, Joshi indulged in a bit of mind games with Australia by announcing openly: ‘We’re focusing on the one ball that troubled Australia in India.’ Mehidy, Shakib Al Hasan and Taijul Islam, the spin trio for the first Test, wouldn’t reveal much. This seemed to irk Australia, who only few months ago, had tumbled against Ashwin and Jadeja in India. Whether the tactic played a part or not, we wouldn’t know, but Australia lost 19 wickets to the Bangladesh trio.Ahead of the series, Joshi sat his boys down and spent hours analysing their strengths and weaknesses. “It helped me understand their mindset,” he says. “I could see while there was natural ability, there was also some apprehension. You could see Mehidy had all the tools to succeed. Natural drift is his biggest strength. But what I only did as coach was give him options: ‘for this batsman, we can do this. These are his weak areas, this is what you can look to try and do.’CWI Media/Randy Brooks”Once I engaged him with various ideas, it got him thinking, and he would work on these at training. This built confidence, and over the past year, Mehidy has matured beyond his years. Yes, he still has a lot of work to do. He is working on a carom ball, for example. So understanding his own game is what I have tried to facilitate by engaging him and working with him, rather than change much with his basics.”His mindset presently is ‘I’m not worried if I’m hit. I want to attack and get wickets.’ It’s taken a while to get him to think this way, and because they’re all exposed to so much T20 early, they subconsciously think, ‘oh, let me try and restrict.’ Mehidy is different now, he knows whether it’s a 60-metre six or a 90-metre six, he has to come back and try and get him to do that again next ball.”Then there’s Taijul, the left-arm spinner, who isn’t part of the Asia Cup, but Joshi makes sure to keep in touch through the High Performance coaches back in Dhaka. Ensuring constant and open dialogue with players appears to be an important part of his coaching method.”One of the things I try and stress on is the need to have different templates for different batsmen,” Joshi says. “The way you bowl to a top order bat and the way you bowl to a tailender can’t be the same. For starters, we ensure they bowl a certain number of deliveries at the nets, some of it is allotted towards trying our variations. So I’m in touch with the coaches there and see if these routines are adhered to, and then devise bowling plans.”Taijul, for example, worked on his lengths in West Indies. His action is such that he doesn’t generate bounce, so then you need to make the batsman play forward. He was pretty successful during our ODI series win in West Indies. They need cushioning because of the exposure to T20. Being hit shouldn’t get them thinking if they’ve bowled badly and if they’ll be dropped as a result. It’s these chats I’ve had with them, sharing my own experiences of success and failure that I look back on fondly over the last year. They’ve all warmed up to it and have acknowledged it.”

The biggest acknowledgment of your work is when the players take the liberty to not just agree with what you say but also question you and challenge you at times.Sunil Joshi

One of Joshi’s biggest challenges has been to look for a wristspinner, given how much they are in focus these days. The nature of his commitment – he’s in Dhaka five days prior to the start of the series – hasn’t allowed him the opportunity to handpick too many players, but he’s genuinely excited by Mohammad Rishad, who is part of the High Performance set-up, and is in line to play for Bangladesh at the Under-19 Asia Cup later this month. “He and Mehidy will rule spin here for years to come,” Joshi says. “They have to be handled well. But from whatever I’ve seen of him, he looks really promising.”For the moment, Joshi is satisfied at having fulfilled a commitment with all honestly. While the BCB still decides on a contract extension, he isn’t anxious about what his immediate future holds. Coaching is where his passion lies; he’s been with Jammu & Kashmir, Hyderabad and Assam in India’s domestic circuit, apart from stints with Oman during the 2016 Asia Cup and World T20. Before the Bangladesh job, he was the spin coach for the Under-19s at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, and was also in the running for the head coach of the India women’s team.”Coaching was always a natural transition, and being part of a national set-up has also broadened my vision. The biggest acknowledgment of your work is when the players take the liberty to not just agree with what you say but also question you and challenge you at times. This I’ve had in plenty with all our bowlers – whether it’s Shakib, Taijul or Mehidy.”

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Sep-2016Wasim removed Andre Fletcher and Marlon Samuels in his next over to reduce West Indies to 15 for 3•AFP/Getty ImagesIn the next two overs, Mohammad Nawaz bowled Johnson Charles and Hasan Ali had Nicholas Pooran caught behind, leaving West Indies tottering at 22 for 5•Getty ImagesKieron Pollard then joined Dwayne Bravo for a 25-run partnership, before he, too, was bowled by Wasim•AFP/Getty ImagesWasim got Carlos Brathwaite two balls later to claim his maiden five-wicket haul in T20s, before Sunil Narine’s run-out left the score at 48 for 8•Getty ImagesBut Bravo kept fighting with 55 off 54, hitting four fours and two sixes to restore some respectability to West Indies’ innings•Getty ImagesHe was supported by Jerome Taylor, whose run-a-ball 21 contributed to a 66-run ninth-wicket partnership, helping West Indies up to a final score of 115•Getty ImagesSharjeel Khan helped Pakistan launch their chase, striking three fours and a six before departing for 22•Getty ImagesThe other opener, Khalid Latif, played the anchor: he batted through the innings for 34 off 32•Getty ImagesPakistan’s main contributor with the bat, though, was Babar Azam. He knocked off 55 off 37 to steer them home with all of nine wickets and 34 balls to spare•Getty Images

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Apr-2015Mayank Agarwal then walked past an Iqbal Abdulla delivery only to be stumped by Dinesh Karthik, leaving Daredevils at 67 for 5 in the 13th over•BCCIDavid Wiese and Mitchell Starc took three quick wickets between them to leave Daredevils at 90 for 8•BCCIJust as Kedar Jadhav was looking to take them past 100 he pulled one straight to Starc at deep midwicket after making a 29-ball 33•BCCIDomnic Joseph was run out by AB de Villiers for 1 as Daredevils were bowled out for 95, the lowest total yet this IPL•BCCIRoyal Challengers cruised to their target as Chris Gayle, playing his 200th T20 game, smashed six fours and four sixes for his unbeaten 40-ball 62…•BCCI…While Virat Kohli struck six fours for his 23-ball 35 in a 10-wicket win at the Feroz Shah Kotla•BCCI

It wasn’t easy, and it certainly wasn’t without its fair share of twists, but Australia held their own to pull off one of their most impressive wins in recent itmes

Daniel Brettig in Cape Town05-Mar-20140:00

Cullinan: Australia the smartest thinkers in the game

Thirty-two balls remained in the Test match when Australia’s spearhead Mitchell Johnson hit Vernon Philander on the pads. He was bowling around the wicket at a sharp angle, the ball arrowing well down the leg side. On tired legs, with an anguished face, Michael Clarke referred the decision. It was the surest sign of desperation.When the not out decision was relayed by the big screen, Australian shoulders slumped just a fraction. Would they be denied again as they had been in Adelaide 17 months before? Would they end the richest summer unsatisfied?Thirty balls remained in the Test match when Clarke called on Australia’s heartbeat Ryan Harris. Whenever the Test match ended, Harris was due for knee surgery. Overdue in fact. Bone floats around the joint sticks out of it at times, revolting but also inspiring some of his teammates. He was also handicapped by a hip problem, and team management had budgeted for only 8-10 overs from him in the fourth innings.His previous over, the 24th, seemed sure to be his last of the match, having looked ragged and barely made Dale Steyn play. But those slumped Australian shoulders straightened up as Harris set off on his run. He had delivered before, he would do so again, no matter how he was feeling, no matter the circumstances.Three balls and two bowleds later, it was all over. Australia had the Ashes, won at home, and added to it new-found credibility won abroad in the most searching circumstances. Newlands will be remembered for decades, and it will stand out among the seven Test matches won by Australia in 2013-14 for how far the team was stretched.Clarke’s men always made the running in the match, but had to wring every last drop of effort from themselves to dislodge the best and most stubborn opponent of all. Harris’ closing burst, well beyond anything the medical staff had expected from him, symbolised the effort required. The last bastion of summer was the hardest of all to crack, and when it finally did the sense of achievement was palpable.Ryan Harris wheeling away in celebration after bowling out Morne Morkel will be the indelible image of Cape Town for years to come•Getty ImagesNinety-eight overs and seven hours are an awful long time to take six wickets, on a fifth day pitch with a five-strong bowling attack. Six balls among 588, with a new ball thrown in around halfway. With 41 overs thrown in from the previous night, the Australians had given themselves as much time as Clarke and the coach Darren Lehmann thought wise, before the “cooking” of bowlers became a factor. There are days when such a scenario can result in a finish well before lunch, the fielding side enjoying the fruits of their labours before the sun has peaked, and the batsmen ruing the mistakes earlier in the match that put them in such a position.But as much as Australia wished for it, Newlands on March 5, 2014 was not one of those days. The creeping doubt and fear of another Adelaide 2012 loomed ever larger, as Clarke fretted increasingly over his declaration.Signs were ominous in the first session when Kyle Abbott made himself about as hard a nightwatchman to dislodge as Fanie de Villiers had been in another Adelaide match two decades ago. It took James Pattinson’s location of some reverse swing to find a way past him, and there was to be no rush of wickets following. Partnerships crept up in terms of balls rather than runs, as did Australia’s anxiety and anger.Much of it was directed at Faf du Plessis, who had not only been at the centre of the 2012 rearguard, but had also raised the ire of Australia by his insinuation of ball tampering on day three of the Test. Warner was particularly antagonistic, but his brio, while crouched at silly point, was prolonged by the fact that neither du Plessis nor his batting partners were going anywhere in a hurry. Every wicket had to be earned, as Harris did when he coaxed an edge from AB de Villiers after beating him repeatedly with the second new ball. In a day of hard-won gains, this was perhaps the most significant.

Clarke’s men always made the running in the match, but had to wring every last drop of effort from themselves to dislodge the best and most stubborn opponent of all. Harris’ closing burst, well beyond anything the medical staff had expected from him, symbolised the effort required

The loss of shine from the fresh projectile forced Clarke to resort to other avenues, and it was in this that he found an uncomfortable echo of 2012. Then as now, Nathan Lyon bowled tidily and judiciously but with not the mystery nor venom to find a way past dead bats. Before the match, Shane Warne had remarked that most spin bowlers took time to learn ways to succeed early on, before taking advantage of the rough.Lyon’s issue is quite the opposite, as he loses potency the further a match goes on. Both his mentor John Davison and Warne are aware of this, but must work further with Lyon to find the key to last-day success. For now though, Clarke had to rely on Steve Smith’s leg breaks, and whooped alongside the rest when he winkled out du Plessis, lbw.That wicket was celebrated as though the critical one, but the final session stretched every Australian reserve of patience and physical stamina. In the cases of James Pattinson, who engaged in a prolonged verbal joust with Vernon Philander before letting slip an angry beamer, and Clarke himself when confronting Steyn, the weight of the occasion was too much for their decorum. Australia’s cricketers play their best when skirting the line between the aggressive and the boorish, and these moments of poor behaviour demonstrated the risks inherent in that. Clarke was wise enough to admit his fault in the aftermath.As time ticked by, the memories of all that Clarke’s men had achieved this summer could be recalled. Their ambush of England in Brisbane, Johnson’s destruction in Adelaide, the Ashes clincher in Perth, before the pageantry of holiday hidings in Melbourne and Sydney. Centurion flew past in a similarly pleasant blur, before Port Elizabeth’s reverse showed that the team retained numerous shortcomings in conditions not to their taste.To rebound from that at Newlands, on a surface similar in its sluggishness, demonstrated a great deal of the team’s progress, personified by the otherworldly batting of Warner, the naked intimidation of Johnson, and the burgeoning talent of Smith. As Clarke concluded:”I don’t think it’s fair to compare it to the Ashes series that we just played. But I think an honest assumption would be that it’s as good,” Clarke said. “Any time that you beat the number one team in the world that’s extremely special. For us to get over the line is very special for this Australian team. It certainly shows and represents that we’re heading in the right direction as a team. It’s our first bit of success away from home for a couple of years. I can’t thank my teammates enough for their heart, their attitude, and the hunger. Davey sits here as a great example of the two things I’ve spoken to this team about, having the right attitude and having that hunger inside you to want more, to want to become a better player every single day.”But the indelible image of Cape Town will be that of Harris, summoned for a final spell of bowling at the Kelvin Grove End when he was in a far fitter state for a looming date with his surgeon in Melbourne. Earlier in the match Johnson had spoken of how Harris’ will to overcome the physical hurdle of his troublesome knee had inspired plenty of others to ignore whatever minor ailments had affected them. At Newlands he went further than anyone could have expected, engineering a series victory that will stand comparison with anything achieved by Test teams from his country. At the moment of victory, Clarke was weary, relieved, and grateful. Australia’s longest day of summer had become their most memorable.

Having gambled with a slow, low surface, India will be pleased with their position but an extra seamer and bowling last could mean England have the edge

George Dobell in Nagpur13-Dec-2012This was a bizarre day’s cricket. It featured an ill-balanced attack against a sometimes ill disciplined batting line-up on as slow a pitch as England, at least, have played on this century.That it generated a certain drama was more due to the position of the series than the thrill of the cricket. Indeed, as Test cricket fights for relevance, it is hard to avoid the conclusion that pitches like this represent one of the greatest threats to its future.Some will rile at that. They will claim – quite rightly – that India have the right to produce any surface they like for a home series. But this is not a pitch that will suit India any more than it will suit England. It is sluggish and uneven and helps neither the batsmen nor the bowler with the greatest skill. It is not a pitch that rewards good cricket. It is not a pitch that rewards spectators; be they at the ground or watching at home. It is not a good pitch.Progress, with bat or ball, can be made. But it can be made, for batsmen or bowlers, only with dogged persistence. There is some merit in that; Test cricket is meant to reward persistence and consistency, after all. But it is also meant to reward flair and skill and produce entertaining cricket and it cannot be ignored that around 40,000 of this stadium’s 45,000 seats were empty. Who is going to pay to watch a run-rate below two and bowlers hoping to bore out batsmen?India took a gamble with this pitch. Having been outplayed in the last two Tests despite designing the surfaces and winning the toss, they may have reasoned that, in normal conditions, they will struggle to compete with England. After six losses in the seven previous Tests between them, it is an understandable conclusion. Their solution is a surface that should negate pace or high bounce – two of England’s strengths – and should also guarantee a definitive result.That their gamble has, in part, come off owes plenty to some weak batting from England. While timing the ball was tricky throughout the day and run-scoring desperately difficult, all the wickets – with the exception of Alastair Cook, who was undone by an umpiring mistake – were due to batsman error. Certainly Jonathan Trott can have few excuses for leaving a straight one that hit his off stump, while Ian Bell’s tame catch to cover will have done nothing to appease the growing band of cynics who question his long run in the team. He will know he surrendered his wicket too easily.

Of the five debutants England have utilised this year – Compton, Patel, Bairstow and Taylor are the others – Joe Root’s has been the most impressive beginning

Such wickets tend to fall on these pitches, though. It is not that batsmen receive unplayable deliveries as much as the fact they face so few scoring opportunities. With the lack of pace reducing the opportunities to pull, cut, nudge or deflect, batsmen were obliged to wait for the longest of hall-volleys before going on the attack. Even long-hops – and Piyush Chawla delivers plenty – are problematic on such a low, uneven surface and, in their desire to force the pace, forcing shots offer catching opportunities.But part of India’s gamble has backfired. Not only did they lose the toss and give first use of the pitch to England’s batsmen – it may be more appropriate to say they gave last use to England’s bowlers – and it will have been worrying for them to see that Ishant Sharma, their lone seamer, was easily the most dangerous of the bowlers. Had he enjoyed some fast bowling support rather than a band of spinners for whom the surface offered little, England might have been dismissed already.India can take comfort in the absence of the injured Steven Finn. He may have been a horrible proposition on this surface, though if England’s seamers bowl with control, they too will surely prove hard to master.That the day ended with honours just about even – it would be a brave fellow who tried to predict a par score on this wicket – was a reflection of some disciplined batting from Pietersen, an impressive debut from Joe Root and some typical defiance from Matt Prior and Trott.If there are any question marks about Pietersen’s greatness at this stage of his career – and there really shouldn’t be – they focus on his inability to grind out runs in conditions where it is not realistic to counterattack and there are few release options. So that he failed to score from 154 of the 188 balls he faced speaks volumes for his discipline, his sound defensive technique and the begrudging pitch. He scored from only four of the 51 deliveries he faced from Pragyan Ojha.Root was admirably unflustered. Though not especially tall, no-one in the England team with the exception of Pietersen gets as far forward as Root and few play as straight. His reach and intent provided run-scoring opportunities and at no stage did he allow any frustration to coax him into a rash stroke; even against the tight Ravindra Jadeja, off whom he scored just two singles in 32 deliveries.Root’s stand with Prior – worth 60 at this stage – rescued England from a precarious position and of the five debutants England have utilised this year – Nick Compton, Samit Patel, Jonny Bairstow and James Taylor are the others – his has been the most impressive beginning. It says much about a team in transition and still searching for replacements for Andrew Strauss and Paul Collingwood that all five are batsmen but Root has already given himself an excellent chance of winning a longer run in the side.Credit is also due to the England management who selected him. Root would, in normal circumstances, have had to wait behind Bairstow and, perhaps, Eoin Morgan for an opportunity. But, with Graham Thorpe providing encouraging reports about Root’s ability to counter spin both last winter – during the Lions and England Performance Programme (EPP) tours – and during his century for the EPP squad a couple of weeks ago, he has leap-frogged his rivals. Bairstow looked unconvincing in Mumbai and Morgan has yet to prove that his struggles against spin in the UAE were an aberration. Root was selected partially as a “horse for the course” and took his opportunity well. It was noticeable that both Bairstow and Patel, though obviously disappointed, congratulated Root warmly as his Test cap was presented by Collingwood.A glance at the first innings scores in the three previous Tests at the ground would suggest England are still in some trouble. In the first Test here, in 2008, India scored 441 and won heavily; in the second, in 2010, South Africa scored 558 for 6 and won by an innings and in the most recent, in 2010, New Zealand were bowled out for 193 and lost by an innings. But these are not normal conditions. England certainly still have work ahead of them to establish a strong first innings platform but they are not in quite such a precarious position as the scorecard might suggest.

Cricinfo staff05-Apr-2010Once again Shane Warne won a match with his aura and never-say-die spirit – two traits even his rival captain and one-time Australian team-mate Adam Gilchrist admits he is envious of. From a seemingly hopeless situation at the chase, Warne brought himself on, and with every one of his allotted four overs he pulled the momentum towards Rajasthan.Like all of Warne’s spectacles this was nothing short of drama. It was a low score to defend. So it was futile wasting time, fussing about how many runs Rajasthan fell short of an ideal target. Instead, he loaded the team with hope: apparently each time Rajasthan have scored a minimum of 160 they have won the game. If they were 10-15 runs shorter, the team had to throw themselves at everything. That was the only way Rajasthan could win.But Gilchrist punched his weight straightway to put Deccan in a comfortable position before he vanished to an awful shot. Deccan were still on course for a victory, needing 74 off the final ten overs with eight wickets still in hand. But Warne had not yet bowled. Finally, he arrived in the 12th over but was pulled for six by Rohit Sharma. In his usual fashion, Warne spat into his hands, rubbed his palms on the turf and returned to his mark. Next over, after being pulled for a four by Anirudh Singh, he slipped in the quicker one, the slider, to induce an edge.Warne had found his mojo. The big legbreaks returned, the pace was varied smartly. Like always Warne charmed his opponent with flight and tempted him equally. Dwayne Smith and Ryan Harris fell into the black hole created by Warne. It was not that Warne was bowling unplayable deliveries, but, just like on numerous occasions in the past, he had created a stage of his own where the batsmen were his marionettes and he was pulling the strings.”It is all about the right ball at the right time,” Warne said later during the media briefing. “It is not your best ball: no point trying to bowl big, ripping legbreaks and somebody nicks it and it goes down for four. It is all about setting him up: fast, fast, slower one up, trying and tempt one into it,” he explained.When Warne finished his quota, Deccan were still in a commanding position, needing 19 off the last two overs. But more than his bowling, it was his leadership that clinched the match for Rajasthan. All through the contest he kept cajoling, back-slapping, shouting, screaming and motivating his troops as he knew the enemy was ready to blink and they needed to be in the right position to pull the trigger.But some nerves were tender. Especially Morne Morkel of South Africa, who failed to listen to his general’s commands. Off the penultimate ball of the penultimate over of the match, Warne had set a field for a short ball and asked Morkel to aim for Rohit’s head. Instead, Morkel delivered a lame, fuller-length delivery, which resulted in a straight six. Warne, the exhibitionist, showed his anger on the big screen. “I said knock his head off,” Warne said. “I got everyone up this way (off side) and everyone back (on the leg side) and the plan was to bowl short, and he bowled a half volley.”But Warne walked up to the bowler and asked him a calm question. “I said to him ‘what’s the most important thing, mate?’ The answer was “This ball.” Warne agreed.That skill to never allow his emotions to take of hold him has always seen Warne conquer the moment, conquer the batsman and turn matches and series on their heads. Considering there are only a few who possess that quality, Warne is hence part of cricket’s pantheon. “It just can’t be one person,” Warne said. “[Even] If I believe, I still got other guys to believe [in themselves].”But Gilchrist agrees the genius of Warne is possible only because the man has a big heart. “The aura, the spirt. I have had some pretty fun times standing behind the stumps, watching some startled rabbits in the headlights,” Gilchrist said, in praise of his opposite number. “He bowled really well and led his team extremely well.”

New Zealand captain Tim Southee did not rule out the potential of Neil Wagner being called out of retirement for the second Test against Australia in Christchurch if required with Will O’Rourke’s hamstring to be assessed in the next 24 hours.O’Rourke walked off the field five balls into his eighth over on the third day with tightness in his left hamstring. He did not return to the field for the remainder of Australia’s second innings, but he did bat day four and was able to run between the wickets although he was never required to sprint.Related

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Southee admitted New Zealand may have got their selection wrong for the second straight Test match after picking four fast bowlers on a Basin Reserve pitch that spun more than he had ever seen in his 16-year Test career.Hagley Oval in Christchurch has traditionally been even better for pace bowling and less friendly to spin. If O’Rourke is ruled out, New Zealand do not have a fourth seamer in the squad to call on as Wagner retired after being told he would not be selected for either of the Test matches against Australia.But with New Zealand 1-0 down in the series, Southee was asked specifically post-match whether Wagner could be recalled for Christchurch and he did not rule it out.”We haven’t had a lot of discussions as yet,” Southee said. “We’ll see how Will scrubs up. The physio hasn’t sort of put a timeframe on it or how bad it is. We’ll just wait and see how Will goes over the next couple of days. I’m sure there’ll be an update in the next 24 hours”We obviously have to go on and make a decision on who comes in and what role we sort of see that playing out in Christchurch.”[Wagner’s] had a great reception here over the last week where he got a couple of moments on the field and obviously he’s been a fan favorite for a long time.”Southee did rule out the possibility of Trent Boult being recalled given he has been playing T20 cricket only in recent times.”I don’t think his loading is up to it on the back of T20,” Southee said.William O’Rourke is an injury doubt for the second Test•Getty Images

Southee defended the performance of New Zealand’s fourth seamer Scott Kuggeleijn in just his second Test match. Kuggeleijn took two wickets in the first innings but conceded 75 runs in 20 overs with just one maiden. He only bowled three overs in the second innings and conceded 18 runs. He also holed out to deep midwicket off Nathan Lyon for a second-ball duck in the first innings when New Zealand needed someone to dig in alongside Glenn Phillips before making 26 in the second.”He bowled well at times,” Southee said. “It was tough out there with that wind, the job he did, picked up a couple of wickets in the first innings which were crucial. It’s obviously a very small sample size in the two matches he’s played and there’s a bit of time, a year between Test matches as well. It’s not easy to come in and make an impact straight away.”Kuggeleijn’s pace was down under 130kph at times throughout the match but Southee said the strong Wellington wind had made it tough.Southee pinpointed that Cameron Green’s 174 not out and his 116-run 10th-wicket stand with Josh Hazlewood on the second morning was the difference in the game. He conceded that his team got their strategy wrong to Green.”I think we probably could have tried to get Green out on that second morning,” he said. “I think the way he played that that night before, we thought he was probably going to come out and play some shots. But we probably could look to get him out and on that second morning and make things slightly easier than what we did.”