India Tour of New Zealand !!

Just 1 week to go now for the real action to start ....

 

Well for me I am waiting for test matches as I love to see India performance will in it as I am sure India will win T20 and Odi Series but we have to check in Test matches.

 

You are one very optimist person..I must say!

I am not sure about ODI as well.....Do not forget they did give a good fight to Aussies in their last encounter with them...

Regards,

RightMan

 

I think Indian team is strong this time to win all series and make a history for India.

What you say?

 

The Indian Cricket Team is to don a new T20/ODI dress starting from the upcoming New Zealand tour...



The Men In Blue is looking a lot more cooler...what do you think?

Regards,

RightMan

 

I think this looks good but I like old one as it looks better then this. Let's see how they can perform with this new kit on 25th.

 

Absolutely. Looks great!

 

Light blue looks good,but Kiwi's Black dress is also cool.

 

Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the India captain, and coach Gary Kirsten believe the team's balance will ensure it remains competitive on the tour of New Zealand, regardless of the conditions. India's batsmen failed to adapt to the wet, seamer-friendly conditions on the last tour in 2002-03 and lost the Tests 2-0 and the ODIs 5-2 - the biggest blip on their overseas record since the turn of the century.

"We are going there with the mindset that we are going to win. The great thing about this Indian team is that we have the right balance," Kirsten said in Mumbai before the team's departure for New Zealand. "We feel we can go and play in any conditions, on any surface, and be a competitive force. It is important to understand the weather there [New Zealand], which is very different to what it is here."

India's first Test tour to New Zealand was in 1967-68, a series which they won 3-1 - their first overseas series win. They have toured New Zealand six times since then, losing four Test series and drawing two. The current tour comprises three Tests, two Twenty20 internationals and five ODIs.

Only five players in India's ODI squad - Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Harbhajan Singh and Zaheer Khan - have prior experience of touring New Zealand and Dhoni wanted to focus on adapting to the conditions as soon as possible. "Every place has its own challenge," Dhoni said. "The best [we can do] is to create an environment where we execute the plans and give our best during practice without thinking much about the results. It will be tough. It is a big tour for us."

Kirsten said conditions had changed over the years and it would be important to work out a game plan. "I have seen two very different types of conditions in the last two series I watched there [New Zealand]. When India were last there, the pitches were seaming around a lot, but when West Indies toured New Zealand, the pitches looked really good and pretty flat. So it is a question of finding out what we are going to be confronted with. I know this time of year the weather gets a bit colder, there might be some rain, which will assist the seamers in terms of the moisture."

India are a notch above New Zealand at No. 3 in the ICC's ODI rankings, and several positions above them in the Test standings, but Kirsten said they would not be taking their hosts lightly. "New Zealand have always been competitive," he said. "They are fighters who always give their best and it is worth being wary of them at home. We certainly won't be taking them for granted."

Dhoni, for his part, refused to lay claim to being favourites for the tour. "We would rather go as underdogs instead of putting undue pressure on ourselves," he said

He also played down Daniel Vettori's comments on him and Virender Sehwag thriving on the small grounds in New Zealand. "We know there are people in the side for whom any ground is small," Dhoni said. "It is not the size of the ground, it is about form and the adaptability. We have individuals who can score big shots, rotate strike and change their gameplans as and when needed."

 

Our captain is touring New Zealand for the first time!

Did not realize that...he is still very young and would be visiting many places for the first time

Hopefully, he and his captaincy would stand up to the challenge....

Regards,

RightMan

 

Yes only few players played in NZ as we last tour few years ago and I think this experince will count when we archive something good for India and win matches.

 

John Wright, who coached India from 2000 to 2005, believes the biggest difference between the current side and the one he brought to New Zealand in 2003 is the potency and stability of the bowling attack. Wright, a former New Zealand captain, said India would still harbour memories of their last tour here and that their top order, though formidable, could still be susceptible against the moving ball.

Since they have paired up, Ishant Sharma and Zaheer Khan have become a force in different conditions and Wright pinpointed India's spearheads as key. "India must be very excited about his [Ishant Sharma's] potential," he said. "We've only really seen him bowling in subcontinental or Australian conditions, where it's pretty hard work for the pacemen. You'd expect once he gets to a place like New Zealand or England, where the conditions favour the seamers more, he'll be at least as influential again.

"Zaheer has really matured, he has really come of age," said Wright. "He had a spell of county cricket with Worcester and just did lots of bowling and that did him a lot of good. He hasn't really looked back since then."

According to Wright, New Zealand's best shot was to probe India's top order with the new ball. "If you can get early wickets, then it will be interesting. It is probably the same with most sides that come here, but they [India] won't have forgotten the last experience here," he said. "Sometimes those ghosts are hard to hide, so the key is putting them under pressure early and just bowling in a very tight area."

In 2002-03, India failed to go past 200 in either Test and lost the series 2-0. It was no different in the one-dayers which followed, as India were comprehensively beaten 5-2. Wright looked back at that tour and felt this time around India would feel far more comfortable about the standard of pitches.

"They'll be interested to see the first pitch. My recollection from last time was there were extreme conditions and probably not the best for watching, so let's hope there is a bit more even balance because they are the most exciting batting line-up to watch," he said. "The tour before, their batters did well and [Rahul] Dravid got a couple of hundreds at Hamilton, so he will have good memories of that. You've got a bloke like [Virender] Sehwag when he's on, it doesn't matter what the wicket is like."

In his role as New Zealand selector, Wright said he had "a few ideas" of how to help the home team. "I'm on the other side now and that may be helpful," he said. "I have a few ideas but it always boils down to what happens on the park, the accuracy and quality of the cricket our blokes play. They've [India] not won [a series] here for 41 years and they'll definitely want to put that right but I don't think they're thinking about settling old scores."

India begin their tour on February 25 with the first of two Twenty20 internationals. They also play five ODIs and three Tests.

 

It would be really interesting to see how Gambhir and Viru are able to manage the swinging ball early on!

They do not have any warm up matches to get used to the conditions...and the first match being T20..I sincerely hope it does not become a batting disaster!

Regards,

RightMan

 

I think Indian team totally changes since his time and I guess Indian team is ready to take challange to beat NZ on their own home. Their bowling attack is not same like last time.

 

The difference this time is going to be a wonderful pair of seam bowlers we have.....in Zaheer and Ishant!

Hopefully, they would be a very good force and get in early break through....every time

Regards,

RightMan

 

Yes I agree with you Indian bowling attack is best at the moment and we know we did good job in Aussi last year and we are hoping for same performance in NZ too.

 

@Digital_shubhi, what is source of your copy/paste cricket news ?

 

thanks for the info its gonna be awsome to watch

 

India have great chance to win this series as they are in fabulous form.

 

Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain, has said the onus will be on the batsmen during India's upcoming tour of New Zealand. "The key for India is to bat well," Ganguly said at a private event in Mumbai.

Ganguly led India on their last tour to New Zealand in 2002-03, where they lost 2-0 in the Test series and 5-2 in the ODIs. The batsmen struggled on seamer-friendly tracks then, and Ganguly said they would need to practice hard in the nets in order to adapt quickly to the conditions.

"The biggest challenge is the lack of a warm-up before the series starts," he said. "Also ahead of the Test series some of the Indian batsmen like Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman will need to adapt quickly as they will not be playing any practice games." Dravid told Cricinfo that the 2002-03 tour was "probably an aberration", but admitted that no practice game was not "an ideal scenario".

India have been successful in the recent past under Mahendra Singh Dhoni but Ganguly felt the performance on overseas tours would determine how good the present side is. "This will be a serious test for Dhoni, and the next two years very important for India's progress to the No.1 ranking," he said. "They play a lot of cricket overseas."

Ganguly also said the association of John Wright, the former India coach, with the New Zealand side should not be much of a concern for the Indian side. "John Wright is a coach, and probably contributes 10% to what happens on the field so I don't perceive him as a threat," he said. Wright, now a New Zealand national selector, recently said he had "a few ideas" on how to help the home team.

Wright and Ganguly forged a successful association during their tenure as India's coach and captain, and the former captain felt Kirsten was performing a similar role in the present India set-up. "There is a bit of Wright in Kirsten. Gary is doing a wonderful job. He supports the players. The coach needs to be a friend. The moment the coach starts dominating there will be problems in the team," he said. "The captain is the most important person in the team. I have worked with John Wright and Gary Kirsten and both have the right mindset and have the right way to coach."