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The tests are here [CI article]

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The Tests are here Sidharth Monga in Hamilton March 16, 2009 Ishant Sharma is working on his inswing at Seddon Park © AFP The first thing Daniel Vettori did upon arriving at Seddon Park, two days before the first Test, was to have a look at the pitch. He inspected it for a good five to ten minutes and then chatted with the curator Karl Johnson. The Indian batsmen did some shadow practice at the pitch before fielding practice and a net session. That, if people didn't know already, was a clear indication that the Tests are about to begin for until now on the tour, no one has bothered to look at the pitch even a day before the match. In Wellington, the teams made their first visits to the venue two hours before the toss. Things have changed, the pitch is being talked about, long-term weather forecasts are being sought, and the anticipation is kicking in. Pyjamas to flannels is a bit of cliché - given the innovative whites teams wear nowadays - but the Test match mood has kicked in. The anticipation for the Tests showed not only in the interest around the pitch - which looks deliciously green now with the grass yet to be shaved off - but also in the increased intensity of the training sessions. Both teams spent about three hours each at Seddon Park and there seemed more purpose to the way they went about their business in the nets. So far batsmen played to imaginary one-day fields and looked to hit big, innovate, and played shots that would get them singles, while the bowlers tried to contain them. The Test intensity today was summed up by one exchange. Sachin Tendulkar padded up first for India, to face Ishant Sharma, Zaheer Khan, L Balaji and a few local net bowlers. After facing two balls from Ishant, Tendulkar went up to the bowler and asked, "Are you trying to get it to move in?" The first two deliveries hadn't actually moved in. Ishant replied in the affirmative and Tendulkar went on to tell him he was making it too obvious. "It seems you are trying too hard to move it in," Tendulkar said, and went on to show him the release that was required - not a big jerk of the wrist, but a smooth push just before letting the ball go. "You might over-pitch for a while, but keep trying it. First get the release right, the rest will come automatically." Ishant over-pitched for a while, slowly getting the inward movement going until he beat Tendulkar with one that nipped in sharply. "Ye achcha tha [This one was better]," came the acknowledgment. The exchange was as much as an acknowledgment of how well Tendulkar knows the game (he could see, while trying to focus on his batting, what was wrong with the bowler's wrist at the time of release) as also the fact that containment was not the key here. Ishant was ready to bowl loose deliveries just to get back his No. 1 delivery. The next batsman in the same net was Virender Sehwag. The first ball he faced from Ishant jagged back in, got the inside edge, hit the thigh and took the leg stump. It's good that the Tests are around. Sidharth Monga is a staff writer at Cricinfo © Cricinfo http://content.cricinfo.com/nzvind2009/content/current/story/395388.html

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The ODI series win will have changed a few notions inside the Indian camp. Some of the players who hadn't been here before, including the captain, will be wondering what the fuss about New Zealand was about. Twenty-seven days into this tour, the previous tour already sounds like fiction. Others who have been here before have only the freakish conditions in 2002-03 as explanation for not having won a Test. Sachin Tendulkar, for example, has played eight Tests in New Zealand and hasn't been on the winning side even once. He will know, given the team's form and the conditions this time around, that this series represents his best chance - and most likely his last. So too for Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman. Then there's the middle group, the likes of Virender Sehwag, Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, whose only experience of Tests in New Zealand are those losses in 2002-03. But all three are strong characters, capable of putting past failures well behind them. Sehwag has made a living out of forgetting the previous ball he has faced. However, history is against India. The facts are startling: India last won a series here more than forty years ago and even their last Test victory here came back in 1976. A lot will depend on how successfully India ignore history. Of late, this team has made a mockery of history and reputation. They were supposed to be the worst of the big teams at the World Twenty20, they were supposed to lose easily in the ODIs in Australia, they were not supposed to win a Test there. Ask Mahendra Singh Dhoni if past record matters to this team and he says: "We hadn't won a one-day series [in New Zealand] either." This time they cruised through the series, just missing out on a clean sweep. "I am not bothered about whether we have won here or not," Dhoni said. "I am just bothered about the things we need to do over here as a team. We are not thinking about what happened in the past. I am not great when it comes to stats, so that really helps." Fast forward to the present, and what India need to do here as a team. They have almost everything sorted out going into the first Test. They couldn't have asked for a better team, with 10 players picking themselves. All they would have hoped for is a third pace bowler who they can repose their faith in. Munaf Patel is not that bowler as of now. L Balaji, on his comeback, is too untested to be that man. Dhoni made clear that Munaf's poor outings in the ODIs would not be held against him :omg:<>. "You know he is a much better bowler than what he did in the one-dayers," Dhoni said. In two ODIs Munaf bowled 9.3 overs for 93 runs for no wickets. "Often he bowled as one-change seamer, and wickets were quite placid. We had big scores, and most of the times New Zealand got off to a good start, which meant basically the batsmen targeted the third seamer. It's always tough to judge on the basis of one-day especially. "We will see who the best bowler is and who is bowling better right now, and accordingly we will pick the third seamer." <> Munaf, though, has bowled fewer overs than Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma and L Balaji in the nets over the last couple of days. India will fix that quandary on Wednesday morning. Another historical blip they need to fix is the first-Test blues while touring. Even on their two most recent tours, first Test losses to Australia and Sri Lanka set the tone for series defeats. India cannot afford a slow start here. If they suffer one here, that coupled with their past record in New Zealand, could weigh heavily on the rest of the series. That said, India have the right mix, the conditions are good and this is not the toughest New Zealand side they have faced. They have players to whom history means nothing, players who have suffered and have lessons to share, and they have players who are very good at putting the past behind them. From tomorrow, they will look to set right what they believe is an aberration.
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