Former New Zealand pacer Neil Wagner has opened up about one of the defining contests of his career — the 2014 Auckland Test against India — where he exposed Virat Kohli’s early struggles with the short ball but admitted that MS Dhoni appeared to have decoded his tactics.Speaking on the Red Inker Cricket Podcast, Wagner, now 39, revealed how a flat yet lively Eden Park surface gave him the chance to unsettle Kohli.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!“This Test match, I remember the wicket being quite flat, but there was a bit of pace and bounce. Eden Park is quite small on the straight, but the square boundaries there are pockets that are helpful. I remember bowling a couple of bouncers and how they played it, and particularly [Virat] Kohli looked a bit unsettled. He didn’t know if he should take it on or not and how to play,” Wagner recalled.Explaining the dismissal, Wagner said: “The idea was trying to go cross and outside eyeline. He (Kohli) tried to pull it in front of square because there’s protection out. Him trying to pull it in front of square, he just got a toe end on it and it carried through to BJ Watling. He got a bottom edge on it and it created a bit of a mode.”India were chasing 407 in the fourth innings, with Kohli scoring a fighting 67 and Dhoni later steadying the chase alongside Ravindra Jadeja. At 268/5, India even threatened to pull off a famous win. But Wagner struck again.“Then Dhoni and Jadeja looked like they were going to chase it down and play a phenomenal innings. Dhoni didn’t look like it was bothering him too much,” Wagner admitted. “It was all about taking the positive and aggressive option for us. I was like I am going to bowl a slower ball bouncer to Dhoni. I did it and he chopped it on, and I was amazed by it.”That breakthrough proved decisive as Wagner finished with 4/62, bowling India out for 366 and sealing New Zealand’s 40-run win. For Wagner, the dismissal of Dhoni — who had initially neutralised his strategy — remains a moment of self-belief and tactical validation.
