Calcutta: Simon Doull feels seizing the key moments was pivotal for India as they won the three-match Test series versus New Zealand on Monday at the Eden and regained the No.1 ranking in Tests.

India's pacers as well as the batsmen struck just when the team needed them to, the former New Zealand pacer pointed out. "You can't really say that New Zealand came a cropper. Not many in this side have played here before and at the end of the day, you've got to give credit to India as they seized the key moments on every occasion," Doull told The Telegraph.

"You don't necessarily have to criticise or be harsh and find out the negatives in the losing team. The winners make a huge difference on some occasions and this was one of them. India were just too good, that's it.

"Their pacers - Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mohammed Shami - and the spinners, of course, did a wonderful job by getting crucial breakthroughs. Whenever a partnership started to develop, the bowlers hit back and had New Zealand struggling."

Doull also highlighted the efforts of Man of the Match Wriddhiman Saha and Cheteshwar Pujara, who scored a significant 87 in the first innings to bail India out of trouble.

"Saha was truly outstanding. Scoring a half-century twice on this pitch was never going to be easy, but he was able to do exactly that. He adjusted his game wonderfully well.

"And then you have Pujara. India were in a spot of bother when he was out there (in the first innings). But just look at how he played. So, I think the combination of all these - good contributions with the bat backed up by equally good performances with the ball - led to India's success in this series," Doull said.

Doull believes one shouldn't be harsh on the New Zealanders for losing the series with still a Test to be played. "Look, I don't think they did too badly. Matt Henry was pretty impressive in this game. Trent Boult, barring the first 40-45 minutes in the Kanpur Test, produced a pretty decent show." You need to understand that it's one or two big partnerships that led to New Zealand's undoing here.

"When they picked wickets, they did so in clusters. But one big partnership in the middle, as we've seen in this (second) Test, changed the course of the game," he explained.

Agreeing that Martin Guptill's rough patch hurt New Zealand badly, Doull feels the recent failures in red-ball cricket is playing in the mind of the opener. "Just as Martin's into red-ball cricket, he is having problems. And there's no issue at all when he is tackling the white ball.

"It appears to be more a mental thing for Guptill than problems with his technique," Doull signed off.