Azhar blasts players

WELLINGTON, DEC 30: Indian skipper Mohammed Azharuddin blasted his teammates for a lack of commitment after New Zealand took a 1-0 series...

WELLINGTON, DEC 30: Indian skipper Mohammed Azharuddin blasted his teammates for a lack of commitment after New Zealand took a 1-0 series lead with a four-wicket win in the second Test at Basin Reserve today.

quot;The effort on the field was not good enough,quot; said an angry Azharuddin. quot;Our problem area is the fielding and unless that changes we are not going to win Test matches. I don8217;t know when we will wake up and realise that there is a problem with our fielding.quot;

When asked what could be done to rectify it, Azharuddin said, if he knew, he wouldn8217;t be sitting and complaining. India dropped seven catches in the two New Zealand innings and his counterpart Stephen Fleming agreed the home side8217;s superior catching tilted the balance in its favour.

quot;When you are defending you can8217;t afford to give away easy runs and drop catches. And that8217;s exactly what we did,quot; Azharuddin said. quot;We were in a good position at stumps on the fourth day. But we didn8217;t bowl well at all today.quot;

Fleming described the Test as thequot;most mentally demandingquot; in his 38-match career and said the post-lunch session on the fourth day was the quot;most pivotalquot; in his side8217;s push for a result.

quot;Both teams had equal chances in the Test and I think at the end we won more sessions than them,quot; Fleming said. Fleming said beating a top side like India was a sweet feeling. quot;In the past we have beaten Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe at home. It is good to win a Test against a team like India,quot; Fleming added.

quot;When it came to the crunch I think we handled the pressure better than them. I think McMillan and Cairns responded to the challenge remarkably.quot;

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New Zealand has replaced Nathan Astle with left-hander Roger Twose for the final third Test starting in Hamilton on January two. Astle suffered a broken hand during this match.