Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who wreaked havoc on New Zealand batsmen with his top-class bowling performance to put the hosts in the driver's seat in the Kolkata Test, has insisted that it was his "dream to take five-wicket haul" at home.
Kumar claimed 5 wickets for 33 runs as India maintained complete stranglehold over the tourists on Day Two here at the Eden Gardens on Saturday.
"It was my dream to take five-wicket haul in India. When I got to know that I am playing and there is some assistance for the fast bowlers, I got excited. I wanted to use the opportunity. I bowled in good areas and eventually I got rewarded," he was quoted as saying by BCCI tv.
"It is a great feeling. As we all know, there is not a great amount of assistance for the fast bowlers on Indian pitches. The ball generally remains soft and it just reverses," he added.
Bhuvneshwar efficiently utilised the conditions conducive for seamers and scalped five of the seven wickets to fall in the cloudy overhead conditions.
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The right-arm medium pacer also said it was the team's plan to use the uneven bounce of the pitch.
"It was our plan to bowl stump to stump line," he said.
New Zealand made 128 for seven before bad light forced early stumps with wicketkeeper-batsman BJ Watling and Jeetan Patel on the crease at 12 and 5, respectively. The tourists are still 188 runs behind Virat Kohli's side.
Replying to India's first innings total of 316, New Zealand openers found themselves struggling against the Indian seamers on a pitch offering seam movement and invariable bounce in the morning session.
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