India escaped with a draw in the second Test in Napier despite New Zealand's domination but pacer Chris Martin today said his team still considers it a "rewarding" match which mentally toughened the host side for the third game starting April 3 in Wellington.
"I think the last Test was good enough mentally, as far as the good points can be taken out of it. So it was a very rewarding Test, though physically tiring. But now I suppose we have a chance to level the series coming here instead of being 2-0 down," Martin said.
"It is basically a battle of the mind when you're trying to bowl these guys out for a reasonable score. I think getting 20 wickets is pretty tough, but I think we have put in enough hard work to maybe get rewards in this game. I think we learnt quite a lot from basically just having to bowl to these guys," he added.
The Kiwi bowlers were stretched in the second Test where they had to bowl 270 overs after the hosts imposed the follow-on on the Indians, who batted out the last two days to save the match.
Martin said it was once in a career experience and he was not sore after lasting over three days on the field.
"...it is new territory for us. I am not too bad actually. We have had three days to rest. I suppose to come here with a chance of leveling the series is inspiration enough to probably not need as much energy as you normally have," said Martin.
Martin felt the chilly weather in the city would make it tough for the Indians to adapt to the conditions.
"It is something we are used to and New Zealand has had some success on this ground over the past. It is something a lot of touring teams dislike and quite a lot of people playing domestically here find it tough as well. But playing in the cold is itself an exercise for character building," he said.
"I know most sub-continental sides that have come out here find it very difficult to keep their bodies warm. I suppose that might want their bowlers to get us out even quicker. But I suppose that is one of the things you have to put up with just as we put up with the heat in India and places like that," added Martin.
Talking about the wicket, Martin said: "I am not sure what you can expect from the wicket. Probably it will do just enough to keep you going and interested.
"There are normally results here, which indicates that it is a good cricket wicket. The next five days if we do half as well as we did in Napier then we are in with a chance," he added.
