Richardson faced more than 400 deliveries in his innings

"When I was playing backyard cricket, John Wright was a man I really looked up to," Richardson told reporters after putting his team in an impregnable position after two days in Mohali.

"I always wanted to be someone like him when I grew up."

A left-handed opener just like former Kiwi captain Wright, Richardson has a similar batting style that favours grafting out big scores rather than punishing bowlers with a flurry of shots.

Richardson said his career-best knock, which took nine hours, was important for the team but he did not rate the innings highly from a technical point of view.

"I was still poking and nicking after 410 balls," he said. "I had a lot of luck and I rode that. I've played a lot better in the past for lesser runs."

Richardson suffered severe cramps on Thursday but managed to battle on.

"I was a bit cramped yesterday, first in one leg and then in the other," he said. "It was a hard knock from that perspective. It was a tough job mentally to keep going."

Richardson said the Kiwis decided not to declare because they wanted to make sure they batted only once.

"We wanted to do the job well once," he said. "There are still a lot of apprehensions, the wicket isn't that difficult.

"We didn't want to stuff things up after coming so far."