Ross Taylor hopes for bowler-friendly conditions

New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor has said that his side is hoping for bowler-friendly conditions in Hyderabad to build on their strong performance in the Motera Test.

"We are happy with the way we played but we know that is in the past," Taylor said ahead of the second Test that begins on Friday. "We can take a lot of confidence from the way we batted and bowled. It was a very flat wicket. We are expecting different pitch conditions here, it will probably have a little bit more bounce and probably turn a little bit more."

Spinners from both sides struggled to make an impact on the slow Motera track. In the second innings, seamer Chris Martin master-minded New Zealand's surge after their batsmen got to within 28 runs of India's first-innings score of 487. Martin finished with five wickets but could not prevent VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh from saving the match on the final day. Taylor hoped Martin would carry his form into the Hyderabad Test, but also looked forward to more spinner-friendly conditions.

"Obvioulsy spin will play a big part," Taylor said. "It didn't turn a lot in Ahmedabad ... And hopefully, the wicket will have a bit more bounce too. We are all excited but we don't want to get carried away with the way we played. Hopefully, Chris can show the form he showed in Ahmedabad again here in Hyderabad."

New Zealand's biggest worry going into the second Test will be the lack of stability at the top. Brendon McCullum did well in his new opening position, but his partner, Tim McIntosh, bagged a pair. Taylor defended McIntosh, but agreed that it was a major area of concern for the team management.

"There will be a selection meeting around it but McIntosh knows where he went wrong and obviously it is not easy getting a pair on what was quite a flat wicket," Taylor said. "He has done well for us in the past. He has often got a low score and then come back and got a big score. We will see if he does play but if he does, hopefully he can show the form that he has shown in the past."

New Zealand came into the series without too many backers following the 4-0 ODI drubbing against Bangladesh. Taylor said that the criticism following the Bangladesh debacle spurred his team to compete against the top-ranked Indian Test side.

"We were a little bit down after losing the one-day series in Bangladesh 4-0. We got slammed, justifiably so. We were not quite abused but we really copped a lot of criticism. A lot of our players used that as motivation. And the rest were fresh from a successful tour of Zimbabwe. I think the game of cricket goes in roundabouts."