"The team led by captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the best team in the history of Indian cricket and is capable of winning the Test series in New Zealand," ‘Tiger’ Pataudi, who was in Bhopal for some personal reasons was quoted as having said in the cricket news.  While Pataudi said that the team was performing very well and getting better as well, he did however sound a cautionary note that it was important for the players to play for the team and the nation rather than personal records; then in that case it would be difficult for any team in international cricket to beat the men in blue.

"Yes this Indian seam attack is possibly the best we've ever had as we never had such a balanced attack before.  Whatever the conditions, the Indian seamers can really excel," said Pataudi, but stopped short of calling the Indian pace attack the best in the world. He said he could not comment on whether they were the best but he did say that they are “really good”.

Prior to this Indian team winning on the current tour of New Zealand there had been only one instance of the Indians beating the Kiwis in their own backyard, and that was back in 1968 under the captaincy of Pataudi. At the time the Kiwis were new to test cricket and the Indians beat them by a 3-1 margin. After that however, there was a forty year drought of wins for the Indians touring New Zealand which has ended only now with the win of the ODI series.

Meanwhile elsewhere, the eternal Sachin or Sehwag debate continues to rage, and this time it is Kiwi pacer Iain O’Brien who has put in his two bits worth: O’Brien rates Virender Sehwag ahead of Sachin Tendulkar when it comes to pick the most destructive batsman. “Sehwag’s pretty amazing, isn’t he? He has been destructive. Though Tendulkar was amazing in Christchurch, I would pick Sehwag,’’ O’Brien said.

O’Brien has he was looking forward to the upcoming test series where he hope he will be able to improve on his record of the ODI series where he picked up just three wickets. “In Test cricket you can bowl to individual plans for a longer period. When you have got more traditional batters, it makes life little bit less exciting. But it makes my job a little bit easier. I love playing Test cricket, though I enjoy one-day cricket too. Test cricket is where I want to make myself a name and I am looking forward to it,’’ he said.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."

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