Daniel Vettori’s three-and-a-half-year reign as captain of the New Zealand Test side has come to an end after Pakistan held on for a draw in the second Test at the Basin Reserve to clinch a 1-0 series win.
Vettori, 31, will also step down as ODI captain after the upcoming ODI World Cup.
“There’s always regrets, you always want to perform better, to do better, but … I can walk away from captaincy thinking that I gave it everything, particularly with my performance,” he said.
Vettori insisted he would not change his mind on the captaincy, but also said he intended to play on for as long as possible.
“Test cricket is a part of the game I love. I want to play it as long as I can and there are still things I want to achieve, there’s no way that I want to finish with test cricket.
Asked for the highlights, Vettori simply replied “Test wins”.
“The Test win against England (at Hamilton in 2008) and against Pakistan (at Dunedin) last year.
“We had the chance to win that series (against Pakistan) last year and we unfortunately got rained out in the last test in Napier, where we probably would have been able to bring that home.
“Also, to see just a whole new group of young guys come into the team. It’s a vastly different squad to what I started captaining four years ago and I think there are some really talented players there.
“If we can get the most out of (Ross) Taylor, (Jesse) Ryder and (Brendon) McCullum in the years to come and with (Martin) Guptill and (Kane) Williamson, I think there is an exciting team there.”
