Napier, March 27: With the Indians on the back foot at the end of the second day of the second Test, pace bowler Zaheer Khan believes, like the Kiwis, the Indians too will raise a healthy total given their strong batting line-up.

"It’s a good track to bat on, hopefully, tomorrow will be ours," Zaheer said after the day’s play.

He said the team was not worried having lost three wickets. "One of them (Ishant Sharma) is a nightwatchman, so it should be okay. Things are looking good as (Rahul) Dravid and Sachin (Tendulkar) are batting. Tomorrow is a crucial day for us, we have to put up a good show with the bat to win the day and come back right into the match," he said.

That was not too difficult, according to the paceman. "If you look at last year, we have been put in tough situations and have responded well," he said.

Talking about the batsman-friendly track, Zaheer admitted it was frustrating to bowl on it. "It’s a good deck to bat on and they scored 600. A lot of runs have been scored in boundaries, so it’s frustrating for the fast bowlers," he said.

Zaheer felt the only help for a fast bowler on such a track was when the ball was new. "I think there is something in the wicket with the new ball. Even when we took the new ball last evening, it did something."

However, "We’ve given everything we’ve got, as a bowling unit. Obviously, Jesse Ryder is playing well — he scored a double hundred. He’s been batting well, is in good form. I’ll have to give it to them. It was fun bowling to him and good to take up that challenge. But I believe the remaining three innings will hopefully go my way."

Talking about the missed chances, Zaheer said: "That’s the way it goes, that’s what cricket is all about. You keep going and create opportunities. Sometimes they go your way sometimes they don’t. The important thing is to keep running in and create those opportunities."

Was the team missing captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni? "It’s unfortunate that he’s had to sit out the match but we’re just looking forward. We have to go on with the game. We are doing everything to the best of our abilities. Hopefully, MS will be back for the next game," Zaheer said.