The year was 1968 and the captain was the Nawab of Pataudi. It was the first time the Indian cricket team visited New Zealand; it was also the only time the Indians have won a test series in Kiwi land. At the time the Kiwis had just become an international test cricket playing nation. On each subsequent visit, the visitors have come away vanquished.

Cut to 2009: The captain is Mahendra Singh Dhoni, and this team India is high on confidence, talent and aggression. It is high on the recent ODI series win. This team is one that is tipped as being the best in the world right now in ODI cricket; the players will be at pains to remove the ‘ODI’ qualifier, they will be looking at the ‘best in international cricket’ tag which can justly belong only to the best test team in the world.

It is international test cricket that is the true test of a team’s character, its skill, its ability to perform as a unit. It is a test of stamina, staying power and resilience. Also it is playing and winning in New Zealand with its cold and windy conditions, spongy wickets and peculiar circumstances that matter; that has a cache in international cricket.

Dhoni dismissed the ODI wins saying, "As I said, it's not about what we have done. We have to start from scratch again. Nothing changes. Particularly when it comes to test cricket, where you have to play consistent cricket over a period of time.”

Sehwag and Sachin will be resplendent, from their heroics in the ODIs; they will be joined by the illustrious VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid.  While the former two have had a splendid run with the ODI series, the latter two have warmed up and acclimatised with their warm up matches played in the domestic cricket circuit of New Zealand. Ishant Sharma will also be rejoining the squad and there is a chance that Lakshmipathy Balaji would also feature in the Indian attack. So the Indian squad seems well fortified.

As for the pitches, the one at Hamilton's Seddon Park, which is the venue for the first test, is thought to be grassy and to aid the bowlers. With India’s current pace battery, that should not pose too many problems.

The Kiwis, according to Coach Andy Moles, are not scared of the Indians. "We know that India are a great side. We respect them but we are not scared of them. We showed that. We got early wickets and that put them under pressure. They make mistakes like everybody else," said Moles.

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

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