Wagner's dream of competing in ICC events looked bleak until WTC came along.
Since Wagner doesn’t feature in white-ball cricket for the BlackCaps, his dream of competing in ICC events looked bleak until WTC came along.
"I can't speak for everyone, this is the ultimate for me to win a Test Championship final though it's the first one and probably hard to compare with others, it's definitely the pinnacle of the game for me," Wagner quoted as saying by Cricbuzz. "And to win it against a quality team like India and the way we did and then to see what it has meant to everyone... The support back home and support that was around there - the text messages keep flowing in, the phone keeps buzzing and to see what it has meant for Kiwi supporters and family and friends, it means a lot to us too. So, it's definitely right up there.
"[I had] never [dreamt of it]. That was sort of a dream and a ship that had sailed to be fair - thinking about the white-ball World Cup in some sort of a way. So, when the Test Championship came around and it was sort of explained to us a couple of years ago what it's going to be like, I got quite excited by the idea. I thought it was quite special and I thought it was something that's going to make Test cricket the way it is right now and make it quite exciting and add a bit more perspective to it.
"So, finally, I guess, getting to an ICC event and with something as big as that... how hard Test cricket is and to be able to do that for a period of two years; every Test match is extremely hard to try and put a performance in and win it. There's a lot of things that's got to go your way and lot of hard work you got to do over five days."
Wagner showered rich praise on fellow pacer Kyle Jamieson, who earned the Player-of-the-Match award for his 7 wickets in the WTC final, including a five-wicket haul in India’s first innings.
"Just the way he has fit into the group and come in and play the way he's done - to just do what he's been doing in domestic cricket and do even better," Wagner said. "Every game he's getting better and better, his willingness to learn, how he's been bowling with the team and the performances he has put in have put him a long way ahead of the cricketer he's still yet to be and become. He's been instrumental to us; yes it's been amazing to do it with Tim [Southee] and Trent [Boult] as well with myself.
"We keep building as a unit, we keep building in partnerships, we said from the start that we know one day might one person's day and the other day might not be someone else's day, but you still contribute and bowl for the guy at the other end and someone might reap the rewards for us. I remember when I started my career, it took about 11 Test matches before I even got a Test win. Kyle has played eight - he hasn't lost one or drawn one yet [laughs]. That's pretty amazing and he's played a massive part in that [success] too. Good on him and hopefully he can continue and as a bowling unit, hopefully we can continue to learn and get better and obviously put more performances like this for New Zealand cricket."
The left-arm pacer, who turned 35 in March this year, also indicated that he is in no hurry to quit international cricket as yet.
"I've got plenty left in the tank," Wagner said. "Age is just a number for me personally and I feel potentially I haven't got the five-wicket bags or performances behind my name that I wanted to, but still feel I'm contributing and playing a role, doing what I'm doing and that is just my role. It's not always going to have the glory numbers or the wickets or whatever it is, but I've got a role I can fulfill for the team and as long as I'm needed or called upon, or I guess asked to do a job, 100% I'll be there to contribute.
"I still feel pretty young and the body feels really good. I played those three Test matches [in England] and got through this pretty easily and felt really good that I could play even more. So that's a good sign for me personally. As long as that motivation and desire is there to keep going to do the hard work at training and do the hard yards of going to the gym and do the tough running sessions and keep the body fresh and improving your game - as long as that's still there, the rest is easy. Mentally, [I] still feel fresh.
"If anything this [WTC title] has just urged me on to work harder and my game personally, but also on a fitness level and all those sorts of things to keep playing and performing and doing my role to the best of my ability as much as I can and contribute to the team."