Captain Rahul Dravid [Images] hailed Zaheer Khan [Images] for his magnificent bowling, which helped India take the second Test by the "scruff of the neck" and overwhelm England [Images] at Trent Bridge in Nottingham on Tuesday.

"Zaheer was brilliant. We need players who can come ahead and play like him. He helped us get the game by the scruff of the neck," Dravid said after India's seven-wicket victory.

"Our bowlers put the ball in the right areas which was very important for us to win the match," he added.

• Who threw the jellybeans at Zaheer?

Indian's captain, who now looks forward to a series triumph in England after over two decades, praised the team.

"Everyone had some contribution in it. We knew we had players who could do well. It was a new innings after Lord's [when the India was saved from certain defeat due to the weather]."

Dravid said openers Dinesh Karthik and Wasim Jaffer put India high in the saddle from the second day itself with a strong foundation.

"The middle order definitely answered back to their critics. We did it even without a hundred from anyone. The openers are also learning and they gave us the chance to dominate in the match from the start," he said, adding he expected a strong fightback from the English.

"It was a close match; it was a tough match. I expected it to be so as I did not think England were going to lie down till the end," he said.    England captain Michael Vaughan [Images] also praised the Indian bowlers.

"They bowled in right areas. It was a very-very good bowling from Zaheer. He bowled beautifully," he said.

Vaughan, who has an impeccable record at home, said 60-70 more runs in England's total could have made a huge difference to the result.

"We played some good cricket. But 60-70 more runs could have really helped us," he said.

On the umpiring errors, he said "you have to play in the spirit of the game".

Zaheer, who gave heroic performance of 5-75 in the second innings to claim the match haul of nine wickets, said he enjoyed bowling in English conditions.

"Coming from the subcontinent I really enjoyed the conditions for bowling. It [the ball] swings the whole day," he said.

Asked his opinion about the balls that were used, he said, "They should use the Duke ball everywhere."

Zaheer said his stint with Yorkshire helped.

"It did help. It was a learning experience and helped me achieve consistency."

On his changed style of bowling around the wicket, he said he had started "bowling wayward last year, to counter which I began bowling around the stumps".

He also emphasised on the recovery period for fast bowlers, saying, "It is very important."