Former cricketer Wasim Jaffer on Saturday (January 21) heaped praise on the Indian bowlers for scripting the team’s emphatic eight-wicket victory over New Zealand in the second ODI at Raipur.

After winning the toss, Indian bowlers ran through the Kiwi batting line-up, bundling them out for a paltry 108 in 34.3 overs.

While Mohammad Shami returned with the remarkable bowling figures of 3 for 18 in his 6 overs, Hardik Pandya (2-16) and Washington Sundar (2-7) claimed two scalps each. The remaining three wickets were shared by Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav and Shardul Thakur.

“I thought they bowled in that corridor of length which you bowl in the Test matches and bowled there consistently. Shami bowled the lengths that he usually bowls. I think he got a bit unlucky in the last few games, he beat the bat far too many times. But today I think he got what he deserved,” said Jaffer while speaking with ESPNcricinfo.

“I thought he bowled really well, complimented by Siraj and even Hardik Pandya. So I thought India bowled really well. Even though it seemed like Rohit Sharma was in two minds about bowling first, and took a lot of time, even Tom Latham said that he would have bowled first,” he added.

Jaffer pointed out that the visiting batters did not give respect to the Indian bowlers early on even though they were getting help from the surface.

“So probably there was a little bit of help early on, which I thought New Zealand did not give a lot of respect to. Glenn Phillips and Michael Bracewell came in and started charging on. Bracewell even hit a couple of fours against Shami. Until these guys came in, they were just sitting on the back-foot and that allowed the Indian bowlers to bowl that length,” he remarked.

“So I thought they were a little tentative but you’ve got to give a lot of credit to Indian bowlers. They’ve been right on the mark today,” Jaffer further said.

The third and final ODI will be played in Indore on Tuesday (January 24).