***Official India in New Zealand***

[bryce]

Yeah that's right, I think he had a **** Test series from memory

 

[Manee]

I don't think India should go in with two spinners if the tracks appear to conform to the usual New Zealand trend of having a fair bit of a juice in them. Would like to see a third pacer employed by India and am not too bothered but wouldn't like it to be someone coming back from injury as Praveen Kumar, RP Singh and Sreesanth are.

 

[masterblaster]

Can't wait for the series to start and I'm really looking forward to it. Expecting Gambhir to have a big series and continue his good form. Also can't wait to see how Zaheer and Ishant bowl on the New Zealand pitches.

 

[R_D]

Looking forward to this as well, will be interesting to see how the indian batsman do away from home, hopefully Gambhir does well.
Also excited about how Ishant and Zaheer go on these pitches.... if pitches are like last time... India to win all test matches within 3 days.

 

[Uppercut]

Sehwag was actually surprisingly good here in the last tour. I remember him scoring two centuries in the ODI series, one of which in a very low-scoring game at Eden Park.

The size of the boundaries probably balances the difficult conditions in the ODIs. So far in this series they've been ridiculous.

 

[susudear]

As if

The size of the boundaries probably balances the difficult conditions in the ODIs. So far in this series they've been ridiculous.

You are talking as if Sehwag has been found wanting in bigger grounds.

 

[Uppercut]

Just to clear things up in case there was any confusion- when i said Sehwag might be able to score more runs on smaller grounds than bigger grounds, what i really meant is that he's a useless waste of space who should be extradited immediately to Siberia where he will spend the rest of his life digging holes for no reason as punishment for being so dire.

 

[susudear]

Haha

Just to clear things up in case there was any confusion- when i said Sehwag might be able to score more runs on smaller grounds than bigger grounds, what i really meant is that he's a useless waste of space who should be extradited immediately to Siberia where he will spend the rest of his life digging holes for no reason as punishment for being so dire.

Good rant. Mistook you for one who gives each of his post atleast 10 seconds brain-time.

 

[GIMH]

Just to clear things up in case there was any confusion- when i said Sehwag might be able to score more runs on smaller grounds than bigger grounds, what i really meant is that he's a useless waste of space who should be extradited immediately to Siberia where he will spend the rest of his life digging holes for no reason as punishment for being so dire.

 

[_Ed_]

The size of the boundaries probably balances the difficult conditions in the ODIs. So far in this series they've been ridiculous.

But in that Auckland game NZ only scored 199, and India lost 9 wickets chasing it. So Sehwag's ton was a pretty good effort.

 

[Durham_CCC]

3Tests is a great idea.

Cant see Harbahjan getting much out of New Zealand wickets tbh.

Zealand could easy win this by producing green wickets.

 

[Cevno]

Cannot see Newzealand beating india on any kinds of wicket at the moment unless ,the pitch offers unfair advantage to the team winning the toss.India ought to win relatively easilly on spinning wickets,flat wickets or bouncy aussie like flat wickets.Even in swinging conditions india would have a good advantage i believe.

The best bet for the kiwis would be to prepare seaming wickets with extra bounce, which do not aid swing bowling but only hit the deck hard seam bowling.Something similar to what the saffers did on india's last tour there after losing the first test in swinging conditions at johannesburg.Or the kind of wicket pakistan prepared at karachi for India's last tour there.
Though ishant factor may change that too ,and the weather in newzealand may not permit that too.

If not that then there best option would be too have absolute pace bowler friendly wickets with large amount of assistance(seam,swing and variable bounce and pace) like the last tour,where one good/bigger knock can make the difference.

Another of Indias achilles heel has been slow wickets where stroke play is difficult and the bowls are two paced in terms of coming on to bat.But i doubt that newzealand would be able to prepare such a wicket,and even if they do they will probably suffer too on such a wicket giving india the edge.

 

[Uppercut]

New Zealand are in with a pretty solid chance if either of Ishant or Zaheer get injured. The others are all very hit-and-miss, so on NZ tracks India could find themselves with only one effective bowler. It'll also be very interesting to see how Mishy travels.

 

[Athlai]

They could also just hit a bad run of form or not be as useful in our conditions as hoped for. Either way it's never a good idea to be relying on two bowlers to take 20 wickets in a match.

Thats where New Zealand's greatest chance at a victory remains playing Sharma and Khan mk II quite well. Reckon Sharma will trouble Taylor but not Ryder. But Khan will do the opposite.

Flynn could do well or poorly either way depending on how well they bowl.

 

[_Ed_]

I think Ryder may do surprisingly well with the ball - he's still got the element of surprise. I expect the Indians to do lots of research into the other bowlers but to overlook Ryder, and that could be at their own peril.

 

[Uppercut]

Harbhajan will probably play as the only spinner, which is good news for New Zealand. Mishra's much more likely to be a threat outside the subcontinent, against a team that are yet to face him.

 

[Prince EWS]

Harbhajan will probably play as the only spinner, which is good news for New Zealand. Mishra's much more likely to be a threat outside the subcontinent, against a team that are yet to face him.

Yeah, AWTA. Harbhajan should only play when the pitch dictates, but we all know he'll play regardless and Munaf will come in for Mishra.

 

[Bahnz]

On paper, India have by far the stronger team, and in recent years India have shown some signs of producing consistent performances overseas. So why do I feely oddly confident about this series?

Either way, Ishant's performance will be interesting. He's never bowled in conditions remotely similar to what he'll likely face in New Zealand, and that could offer help or cause harm. I pick Khan to be the leading wicket taker, followed by a resurgent Franklin in second place. I also think we'll see Guptill in the test side before the end of the summer, unless How can overcome some pretty massive technical faults.

Anyway, if it's a three test series I pick a 1 all result, which is kind of odd considering that earlier this summer I though we'd lose to the windies 1-0.

 

[Fiji-Bati]

Im tipping the Kiws to win the ODI series.. byt the Indians will win the test series.

 

[Craig]

Just to clear things up in case there was any confusion- when i said Sehwag might be able to score more runs on smaller grounds than bigger grounds, what i really meant is that he's a useless waste of space who should be extradited immediately to Siberia where he will spend the rest of his life digging holes for no reason as punishment for being so dire.