Wellington, Apr 2 : New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori is disappointed with the pitch for the third Test against India, as he was hoping for a more greener wicket.

Vettori was hoping for a pitch that offered his fast bowlers genuine assistance, as the home side seeks to draw the series, but the colour of the wicket was not to his liking when the covers were removed today.

"I haven't seen a Basin wicket as brown as this and as dry as this ever before. I've never seen a Basin pitch like this in my life. I can''t get a read on it," the NZPA quoted Vettori, as saying.

He admitted that he had briefed groundsman Brett Sipthorpe on what he would prefer. "We get asked about what we want from a wicket but it is still the groundsman's prerogative to produce the wicket that he wants to," Vettori said.

Vettori sought advice from fellow spinner Jeetan Patel, a local who took a five-wicket bag for Wellington on an adjacent pitch during the State Championship match against Otago on March 20.

"Jeetan said it had a bit of bounce in it and didn''t too do much and was a pretty good batting wicket as the game went on," Vettori said.

"You normally expect the Basin to have something in it, really settle down and later there''s a bit of inconsistent bounce," he added.

Meanwhile, Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was pleasantly surprised when making his pitch assessment.

"Of course I am a bit surprised. I was expecting a green track, quite similar to the one I could have got a glimpse of (in 2002)." (ANI)