The first Test ended in a draw as Kiwi tailenders displayed remarkable resilience.
The hosts got nine Kiwis wickets but failed to dislodge the last pair of Rachin Ravindra and Ajaz Patel as the visitors managed to eke out a thrilling draw at Green Park, Kanpur.
See Also: Rahul Dravid gives INR 35,000 to Green Park’s groundstaff for producing sporting pitch
"We showed great composure and fighting spirit and worked really hard in that final session. It was quite an unresponsive pitch on the fifth day and really good effort to have taken eight wickets after lunch, three in that session and five in last session.
"With a little bit of luck, it would have gone our way I think, guys really fought hard," Dravid said after the match.
"It was low and slow and probably it didn't have that much bounce or didn't have turn. Probably, you expect a little bit more wear and tear on fifth day in Indian conditions over the course of five days. This didn't seem to have that kind of bite," he added.
The head coach further explained his assessment in greater detail.
"Generally, in India on day five, spinners can challenge both edges -- inside and outside. You know you can beat people on the inside edge and get lbw. But honestly, in this game, the outside edge was virtually ruled out," he remarked.
"Even till the last day, none of the edges carried, very few catches close to the bat, I can't remember, (KS) Bharat took a couple. It sort of made it feel that there is only one way to get people out, bowled or may be lbw, probably two in last session.
"In spite of that we were able to prise out nine wickets (8) on the last day, but it was tough but we expected it to be tough in Kanpur. I have played here and I know wickets can be tough," he said.
According to Dravid, the cracks didn't open probably with the winter setting in.
"Usually on day five, you should get bit more help and cracks to widen up a little bit, I don't know, may be it's winter and that's why (cracks didn't open)."
Dravid felt defending wasn't a big problem on the Green Park track and, thus, some Kiwi batters managed to spend long hours at the crease.
"It felt like if you wanted to block, didn't want to score runs, it got difficult to get people out and we saw that. We have quality guys who were able to make a game out of this and otherwise it would have easily gone on to become a dull draw," he was all praise for his spinners before signing off.
Ravindra Jadeja (4-40) and R Ashwin (3-35) claimed seven wickets between them in the second innings.
(With PTI inputs)