Four Reasons why India should win in NZ this time..

[90mph]

BCCI should arrange more practise matches in NZ instead of playing with SL.

[Shane]

We have to take P Kumar to NZ' date=' he'll exploit the pitches and conditions[/quote'] Agreed !!!

[sandtest]

I am sure given their form Ishant and Zaheer will prove too good to any batting line in Kiwi conditions. Bring back Sreesanth from his holidays, give him some solid 1 month practice. He is needed in NZ.

[The Outsider]

There is too much hype being made regarding the pitches in the NZ series. In '02-'03 the series was played on drop in wickets and the experiment was shelved after that series. Sure there will be some movement and grass on the surface but it won't be anything like last time. Also, most surfaces in NZ become really good batting wickets after day 3 because there isn't much uneven bounce and wear and tear which happens on those tracks.

[Chandan]

We have to take P Kumar to NZ' date=' he'll exploit the pitches and conditions[/quote'] Nope!! Not at all. Praveen Kumar could not exploit the green track on the first day against a FC team. What will he do against a test team?

I am sure given their form Ishant and Zaheer will prove too good to any batting line in Kiwi conditions. Bring back Sreesanth from his holidays, give him some solid 1 month practice. He is needed in NZ.

I think Sree himself wants to go. I am raring to go for the New Zealand tour: Sreesanth New Delhi: Maverick pacer S Sreesanth is disappointed at missing the action for some time but said having been declared fit, he is raring to go and expects his chances for the New Zealand tour in March. Sreesanth, who last played for India in April 2008 in the third Test against South Africa in Kanpur, was undergoing rehabilitation following a back problem at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. "I am disappointed at missing the action but that was not in my control. I have been training hard at the NCA and have been declared fit last month. It is a matter of time, I have to be patient. I am raring to go for the New Zealand tour," he said. "I am happy that everybody (in the Indian team) is doing well. Nobody is missing me there as they are bowling really well. I am happy for them," said the 25-year-old pacer. Sreesanth admitted he could not have been selected for the home series against Australia and England. "I don't know about selection problems. I don't think that I could have been in the team in the series I missed out. But I think I am bowling well now and hoping for the New Zealand tour. But all depends on the selectors and (captain) (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni," he said. "I don't want to enforce myself (to the selectors). I don't want to be in the team just for the sake of playing, I want to give off my best for the team," he said. Asked whether he would look to add to the onfield "dramas" that made him so famous last year, Sreesanth shot back saying, "I don't create dramas. I am a cricketer who plays the game with lot of passion. Ask any of my friends and they will tell you I am playing just the same as I have been playing earlier." ************************************ In the above case what should our test bowling attack look like: Zaheer Ishant Munaf Sreeshanth? RP Singh has fallen over and his bowling against Mumbai was really disappointing. I think we should give a chance to Irfan instead to see how he goes there. What do you say?

[Lord]

Nope!! Not at all. Praveen Kumar could not exploit the green track on the first day against a FC team. What will he do against a test team? I think Sree himself wants to go. I am raring to go for the New Zealand tour: Sreesanth New Delhi: Maverick pacer S Sreesanth is disappointed at missing the action for some time but said having been declared fit, he is raring to go and expects his chances for the New Zealand tour in March. Sreesanth, who last played for India in April 2008 in the third Test against South Africa in Kanpur, was undergoing rehabilitation following a back problem at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore. "I am disappointed at missing the action but that was not in my control. I have been training hard at the NCA and have been declared fit last month. It is a matter of time, I have to be patient. I am raring to go for the New Zealand tour," he said. "I am happy that everybody (in the Indian team) is doing well. Nobody is missing me there as they are bowling really well. I am happy for them," said the 25-year-old pacer. Sreesanth admitted he could not have been selected for the home series against Australia and England. "I don't know about selection problems. I don't think that I could have been in the team in the series I missed out. But I think I am bowling well now and hoping for the New Zealand tour. But all depends on the selectors and (captain) (Mahendra Singh) Dhoni," he said. "I don't want to enforce myself (to the selectors). I don't want to be in the team just for the sake of playing, I want to give off my best for the team," he said. Asked whether he would look to add to the onfield "dramas" that made him so famous last year, Sreesanth shot back saying, "I don't create dramas. I am a cricketer who plays the game with lot of passion. Ask any of my friends and they will tell you I am playing just the same as I have been playing earlier."

even agarkar is fit and wants to go to NZ.one thing that that he doesnt waste his time on interviews

[The Outsider]

In the above case what should our test bowling attack look like: Zaheer Ishant Munaf Sreeshanth? RP Singh has fallen over and his bowling against Mumbai was really disappointing. I think we should give a chance to Irfan instead to see how he goes there. What do you say?

Sreesanth should be ahead of Munaf, but probably won't be. He is too good a bowler to not be played if fit.

[Chandan]

Sreesanth should be ahead of Munaf' date=' but probably won't be. He is too good a bowler to not be played if fit.[/quote'] How are we going to decide that he is fit or not? The only way I see is not to select him for Lanka ODIs and making him play a few matches for South Zone intead to see if he can with hold the rigours of a test match. And Why not Munaf, Shwetabh? He is a terrific bowler and is trying his best to improve in other departments too, like fielding: [url=http://blogs.cricinfo.com/thebuzz/archives/indian_cricket/] LINK Munaf the fielder earns some praise Munaf Patel, not known for his agility and all-round skills in the park, has received a vote of confidence from India's fielding coach, Robin Singh. Speaking on the opening day of a specialist skills coaching clinic at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, Singh said that Munaf’s improved throwing had given him his “biggest satisfactionâ€. This is the second bit of praise for the lanky fast bowler in recent times. During an impressive stint with India's one-day side in Sri Lanka last year, the captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni reckoned Munaf had really come along with his outfielding after an ODI in Dambulla. Robin, who played 136 ODIs for India, noticed a trend away from specialists toward more all-round fielders. “You find bowlers are standing more in the circle and have to be more alert," he said. "The grounds are a bit smaller, so the ball gets to you much earlier and faster. It’s a new ball, so we try to do things with much more intensity when we practice. If you’re looking to read the game, fielding becomes that much easier.†************************************* If Munaf is working on intensity, it'll certainly help him in bowling as well.

[The Outsider]

How are we going to decide that he is fit or not? The only way I see is not to select him for Lanka ODIs and making him play a few matches for South Zone intead to see if he can with hold the rigours of a test match. And Why not Munaf, Shwetabh? He is a terrific bowler and is trying his best to improve in other departments too, like fielding: If Munaf is working on intensity, it'll certainly help him in bowling as well.

He should play the Duleep matches to show his fitness. Nothing against Munaf - he has been bowling well recently and has kept fit as well - but Sreesanth has that extra something in him. Maybe it's just a personal bias, but I would choose Sreesanth over Munaf anytime. Some of the spells he bowled last year in Australia were just superb.

[Chandan]

The one day spells you mean? You can't choose a bowler on the basis of bowling with the white ball. Red cherry is completely different.

[matma]

Our test team will look like this: 1. T. McIntosh 2. M. Guptil 3. D. Flynn 4. R. Taylor 5. J. Ryder 6. B. McCullum 7. J. Oram 8. D. Vettori 9. K. Mills 10. I O'Brien 11. C. Martin NZ will rely heavily on the top 6 to score, 7-8 can bat, but 9-11 are genuine lower-order batsmen. McIntosh is solid, very Mark Richardson like, and Guptil is solid and more aggressive. Flynn has very good technique and is solid, and can score at a good strike-rate. Flynn has really blossomed since the England tour. Taylor is a class act if he plays straight, has an excellent temperment. Ryder is a class number 5, and the protection he gets batting here will be great. McCullum is up and down; when he's up he is on. Our top-5 all have the capacity to bat for a long time. If our top 6 fail, India will cruise to victory. Our bowling unit, is an excellent unit in NZ conditions, overseas they are very average. To be honest, it will be a hard test-series for India to win. One thing NZ lack, is a long batting line-up like India, who can bat really low. India's bowling unit is on-par with SA. I could see Irfan Pathan, providing he has got his swing back, playing in the tests. Prediction: Inida win the test series 1-0, I think they will win in Napier. usually a belter of a pitch, and a batsmens pitch. Sehwag and Gambhir will fire here and allow the middle-order the room to score heavy. Our ODI team will look like this: 1. J. Ryder 2. B. McCullum 3. M. Guptil 4. R. Taylor 5. S. Styris 6. D. Flynn 7. J. Oram 8. D. Vettori 9. K. Mills 10. T. Southee 11. M. Gillespie Our ODI unit is very very good. At home and away. My prediction is that, it could go either way with ODIs. We have been beating Australia, during their purple patch, on the regular at home for years. Wasted England last summer, and had the wood omn the Windies in every game, besides losing one. Most games were affected by rain. One thing I notice is that, NZ is always very warm and dry in March, early April. The weather should not play a part, fingers crossed. Our summers here in NZ tend to hit us late around Feb-March. I am so hyped to be able to see Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Sehwag for the last time in NZ!

[graphic23]

Our test team will look like this: 1. T. McIntosh 2. M. Guptil 3. D. Flynn 4. R. Taylor 5. J. Ryder 6. B. McCullum 7. J. Oram 8. D. Vettori 9. K. Mills 10. I O'Brien 11. C. Martin NZ will rely heavily on the top 6 to score, 7-8 can bat, but 9-11 are genuine lower-order batsmen. McIntosh is solid, very Mark Richardson like, and Guptil is solid and more aggressive. Flynn has very good technique and is solid, and can score at a good strike-rate. Flynn has really blossomed since the England tour. Taylor is a class act if he plays straight, has an excellent temperment. Ryder is a class number 5, and the protection he gets batting here will be great. McCullum is up and down; when he's up he is on. Our top-5 all have the capacity to bat for a long time. If our top 6 fail, India will cruise to victory. Our bowling unit, is an excellent unit in NZ conditions, overseas they are very average. To be honest, it will be a hard test-series for India to win. One thing NZ lack, is a long batting line-up like India, who can bat really low. India's bowling unit is on-par with SA. I could see Irfan Pathan, providing he has got his swing back, playing in the tests. Prediction: Inida win the test series 1-0, I think they will win in Napier. usually a belter of a pitch, and a batsmens pitch. Sehwag and Gambhir will fire here and allow the middle-order the room to score heavy. Our ODI team will look like this: 1. J. Ryder 2. B. McCullum 3. M. Guptil 4. R. Taylor 5. S. Styris 6. D. Flynn 7. J. Oram 8. D. Vettori 9. K. Mills 10. T. Southee 11. M. Gillespie Our ODI unit is very very good. At home and away. My prediction is that, it could go either way with ODIs. We have been beating Australia, during their purple patch, on the regular at home for years. Wasted England last summer, and had the wood omn the Windies in every game, besides losing one. Most games were affected by rain. One thing I notice is that, NZ is always very warm and dry in March, early April. The weather should not play a part, fingers crossed. Our summers here in NZ tend to hit us late around Feb-March. I am so hyped to be able to see Dravid, Tendulkar, Laxman, Sehwag for the last time in NZ!

Thats awesome! Thanks for the report. I think Taylor, Oram, and Ryder will be the key batsmen for India to dismiss as soon as possible. I think Taylor and Oram can score very fast and the former can play long innings as well. It will be a fun series to watch if the weather holds up well.

[Ram]

Our top-5 all have the capacity to bat for a long time. If our top 6 fail, India will cruise to victory. Our bowling unit, is an excellent unit in NZ conditions, overseas they are very average. To be honest, it will be a hard test-series for India to win. One thing NZ lack, is a long batting line-up like India, who can bat really low. India's bowling unit is on-par with SA.

I'd call that a very optimistic, pro-Kiwi assessment. Lets not forget, this Kiwi team lost quite badly to an Aussie team in a test series less than two months ago, the same Aussie team which was beaten before that series by India and after that series by South Africa. I have serious doubts as to whether this Kiwi batting line-up is of international test class material. Every series, they try a new top-order player, who invariably promises much but fizzles out badly. Who is to deny the same wouldnt happen to the Guptills and Mclintoshs?

[graphic23]

I think the NZ in NZ are sort of like SL in SL. Pretty strong (I say that relatively - obviously no Mendis and Murali). Their bowlers are very accustomed to bowling with the exact line and length, pace, etc. to restrict the batsmen from scoring too well and then take wickets through Vettori. Vettori is an excellent bowler in the NZ conditions. I think our bowlers will play a huge role in our win (if we end up winning, which I'd say right about now has about a .7 probability of happening).

[matma]

I'd call that a very optimistic, pro-Kiwi assessment. Lets not forget, this Kiwi team lost quite badly to an Aussie team in a test series less than two months ago, the same Aussie team which was beaten before that series by India and after that series by South Africa. I have serious doubts as to whether this Kiwi batting line-up is of international test class material. Every series, they try a new top-order player, who invariably promises much but fizzles out badly. Who is to deny the same wouldnt happen to the Guptills and Mclintoshs?

Ok bro. Who beats who when and where, we all know has no relevance. Bangladesh just beat Sri Lanka convincingly, does that mean they can now beat India? No. Every game is played in its own context. If we are gonna go on previous matches then, India have NEVER won a test or ODI series in NZ, does that mean they wont win now? No. Guptil scores a century on OD1 debut. McIntosh in his 2nd Test gets a big 100. If you can score a 100 at international level, that is international test class material. If you still disagree, please tell me what constitutes 'international class level'? What people dont understand, is that a country with 4 million, NZ is doping pretty well in international cricket. Considering in the last 2-4 years, we lost the bulk of our seniors. Richardson, Fleming, Bond, Astle, McMillan, Cairns. That's half our top line up. NZ are in a rebuilding phase, Guptil, Flynn, Taylor are all young. McIntosh is only 29. All I am saying, is that NZ rebuilding phase is going well. We play well in our own conditions. India will win the test series, BUT this NZ team is no walk-over.

[The Outsider]

^Flynn to me appears to be a genuine talent. He seems to have a lot of time playing his shots and has looked accomplished on the front and back foot from the little I saw of him. Not entirely convinced by Guptil, but I just watched some clips on youtube from the highlights so am in no position to pass a final judgment. Where NZ really struggle in the absence of Bond and Oram is their bowling, but in their home conditions are more than capable of putting up a fight. Just ask England.

[matma]

^^ Agree on the Guptil assessment bro. He is raw, in that big 100 he got lucky, gave about 5 chances, BUT he still has time to adapt and what better way to see if you can make runs with the Indian bowling attack! Flynn has sick technique

[Ram]

Ok bro. Who beats who when and where' date=' we all know has no relevance. Bangladesh just beat Sri Lanka convincingly, does that mean they can now beat India? No. Every game is played in its own context. If we are gonna go on previous matches then, India have NEVER won a test or ODI series in NZ, does that mean they wont win now? No.[/quote'] Of course, we cannot take results of other series to categorically state how that team does against us, but those results do give us a idea of what might happen, the relative strengths/weaknesses of the players and given all this knowledge, speculate how our players will fare against them, which is what I did.

Guptil scores a century on OD1 debut. McIntosh in his 2nd Test gets a big 100. If you can score a 100 at international level, that is international test class material. If you still disagree, please tell me what constitutes 'international class level'?

One solitary 100 on debut does not make you an international class batsman, sustained runs in test cricket does. And bear in mind, its not me alone who are saying NZ suffer from lack of world-class batsman, even former NZ players like Fleming, Crowe have voiced concerns. And the writing is literally on the wall, that no one can miss. Since 2000 onwards, batsmen of many team have seen their batsman surge past the 50 mark ( Dravid, Sehwag, Sachin ( he was always in the 50s), Ponting, Hayden, Hussey, Clark, Sangakkara, Jayawardene, Pietersen, Yousuf, Younis, Kallis, Smith etc). The only country to buck the trend? NZ of course. They have tried numerous batsman to fill the top-order void created when guys like Fleming,Astle, Twose, McMillan left, all without success. Guys like Sinclair, Mathew Horne, Peter Fulton, Jamie How, Lou Vincent, Taylor,Ryder, the Marshalls, Styris, Chris Nevin etc have been tried, but none of them have had prolific success so far. Recently, its the turn of guys like Flynn, Mclintosh, Guptill. No one knows how these newbies will fare. So, truly, NZ is facing a crisis of quality top-order batsman.

What people dont understand, is that a country with 4 million, NZ is doping pretty well in international cricket. Considering in the last 2-4 years, we lost the bulk of our seniors. Richardson, Fleming, Bond, Astle, McMillan, Cairns. That's half our top line up. NZ are in a rebuilding phase, Guptil, Flynn, Taylor are all young. McIntosh is only 29. All I am saying, is that NZ rebuilding phase is going well. We play well in our own conditions. India will win the test series, BUT this NZ team is no walk-over.

No one denied that. For a population thats lesser than that most medium sized Indian towns, NZ has done remarkably well. But we're not debating that here.