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 A determined India will be relying on their famed batting line-up to counter New Zealand on a seamer-friendly pitch in the first Test as they seek to break a jinx of not winning a match in this part of the world for close to three decades. India have not won a Test from four visits and 12 Tests to New Zealand since Erapalli Prasanna spun a win at Auckland during the 1975-76 visit. They have had a hat-trick of defeats at this very venue of Basin Reserve since winning a Test in the 1967-68 series.
New Zealand, in contrast, have a formidable record at their oldest Test venue. They have played 39 Tests in all and lost 12 compared to winning 10 games. Their only losses in the eight matches here in the last six years have been against Australia (1997-98) and South Africa (1999-2000). The Indians are eager to reverse the trend, not the least because they are desperate for their first series win outside the sub-continent in 18 years. A victory here would also give Ganguly his 14th win and put him on par with Mohammad Azharuddin as the most successful Indian Test captain ever.
Under the guidance of coach John Wright, the Indians have made it a habit to win at least one Test whenever they have left shores except for a series in South Africa last year where they suffered a 0-1 defeat. India beat Zimbabwe in Zimbabwe as they did to Sri Lanka, West Indies and England in the last 18 months to let Ganguly have five overseas wins under his belt - a feat not achieved by any other Indian captain. India's emerging credentials will be put to test against a side which has not lost a home series for a while but for one against Australia and another against South Africa in the last six years.
Like Ganguly, Stephen Fleming too is immensely successful and is the most experienced international captain around in world cricket. His captaincy record of 17 wins against 15 losses from 47 Tests is the best ever by any New Zealand captain. India would be looking for their batsmen to show the way on a grassy Basin Reserve pitch conducive for seam bowling. The batsmen nevertheless are in tremendous form and the top order performance in the current year - Sanjay Bangar (413 runs from 9 Tests), Virender Sehwag (597 from 8), Rahul Dravid (1,226 from 14), Sachin Tendulkar (1,292 from 14), Sourav Ganguly (916 from 14) and V V S Laxman (957 from 13) - must be weighing in the minds of Fleming and his bowlers.
It is surprising that Dravid, who hit four successive centuries on a trot, including a magnificent 217 against England at Oval, has still scored less runs than Sachin Tendulkar in the current year. The batting maestro at 1,292 runs from 14 Tests is second in the present calendar year behind England's Michael Vaughan (1,325 in 13 Tests). Dravid is third in the list followed by Laxman at number seven and Ganguly at number nine. While the Indian batsmen have the record to inspire confidence, bowlers were licking their lips in anticipation at the sight of an absolutely green top of a wicket which Fleming described as the "most difficult-looking track he has ever seen at home."
India's pace spearhead Zaheer Khan is fit and he showed it in no uncertain terms at nets this morning, firing in his thunderbolts at batsmen even though he had the right knee heavily strapped. The left-arm seamer had suffered a bad bruise in the Super Max game last week but it all seems a matter of the past as he looks to take his appointed place in the eleven. Zaheer Khan will be supported by Ajit Agarkar and left-armer Ashish Nehra with Sanjay Bangar as the support option of a fourth seamer. Harbhajan Singh too gets a nod for the Test even though the conditions don't overtly suit his brand of off-spin.
New Zealand have a good batting line-up on paper even though none seemed to have a good hit in the middle in the disrupted first class season this year. Six weeks of the tournament was lost to pay row and bad weather but all that is behind them. Lou Vincent and Mark Richardson are chosen openers followed by proven middle order line-up of Craig McMillan, Nathan Astle, Scott Styris and Fleming himself. Styris distinguished himself with a hundred in his debut Test in the West Indies earlier this summer while Astle hit the fastest double hundred in the history of the game against England at Auckland, rattling up 222 runs from a mere 168 balls.
Their bowling is much like India with Shane Bond, Daryl Tuffey and Jacob Oram being the medium-pacers of promise rather than impressive track records. Bond's duel with Sachin Tendulkar and company could be the highlight of this Test. This incidentally is New Zealand's 300th match in their Test history. |
