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Upbeat India prepare for testing times

Until the second innings of their match against Wellington, which they won emphatically by eight wickets, India, who begin a three-Test series against New Zealand here on Friday, looked a pale shadow of the team which won a rubber against mighty Australia only nine months ago.

In losing the opening match of their tour to Central Districts in less than three full days and then falling 49 runs behind on the first innings against Wellington, the visitors bore a greater resemblance to the team which last month succumbed in the one-off Test to Zimbabwe, the minnows of Test cricket.

But for a spectacular 154 by master-blaster Sachin Tendulkar in the second innings, India would have lost to Central Districts in less than two days.

However, the resilience with which they came back to dismiss Wellington in their second innings for 124 and win by eight wickets showed India's prospects in the opening Test in much brighter light.

Yet, India do not look as ready as desirable for the big day. Where their batting is concerned, there are doubts about the form of veteran Navjot Singh Sidhu and captain Mohammed Azharuddin.

In three innings so far, Sidhu has made 2, 15 and 6. Azharuddin's scores at Napier were 2 and 7. In these circumstances, the skipper might have been unwise to have chosen to rest from the match at Wellington.

Coach Anshuman Gaekwad, however, said: ''I am not too bothered about Azhar and Sidhu, who did not bat in Wellington because of an injured toe, being short of runs. They are both experienced players and I'm sure they will come right.''

One of the batting places that fell vacant against Wellington from Azharuddin and Sachin taking the match off was given to Hyderabad boy V V S Lakshman who, in theory, was competing with vice-captain Ajay Jadeja for the position of Sidhu's opening partner in the Dunedin Test.

Nevertheless, Jadeja's place seemed already booked and if there was any doubt, it was eliminated by the chirpy chap scoring 39 in Napier and 46 in the first innings at Wellington.

But it was reassuring to see Laxman, when he opened the second innings at Wellington, bat with discipline and confidence when conditions were in favour of the bowlers, who were on top during the evening of the third day.

If India are to realise the full potential of their immense strength in the middle of their batting order, it is imperative that the openers give them a good start.

One of the factors that contributed to the Indian batting coming to a rich bloom against the Kangaroos earlier this year was the consistency and tremendous authority with which Sidhu batted right through the series. The Australian attack was already softened up before Tendulkar came in to bat.

Comparisons between the immortal Don Bradman and Tendulkar are being made with increasing frequency by leading contemporary players and those of the recent past. In fact, the Don himself has seen in Tendulkar a reflection of himself in his salad days.

If the visitors are to win this series in New Zealand, the Indian batting must come into its own straight away. If it fails, as it did in Harare, India might be doomed to losing the battle because history reveals that it is hard to stage a comeback in a three-match rubber.

Carisbrook, the venue of the Dunedin Test, has a special place in India's cricket history because it was there that they scored their first-ever Test win on foreign soil, in 1967-'68. This is the first Test on this ground since then.

Not one of New Zealand's major cricket venues, it has staged only 10 Test matches hitherto and it is noteworthy that most of them have finished decisively. The forecast is that Friday's pitch will be hard and lively.

India must therefore approach the Test with the assumption that it will follow the trend, which means that they must play to win, and victory entails bowling out the opposition twice.

The Kiwis, who have included a newcomer in Mathew Bell, do not possss a truly outstanding batsman. But their batting is by no means weak and India's bowling resources are thinly spread, with only three bowlers -- Javagal Srinath, Venkatesh Prasad and Anil Kumble -- being of true Test class.

All three will have to rise to their full height if India are to beat the Kiwis which, after losing to Zimbabwe, they must do if they are to regain their credibility as a major force in Test cricket.

India will initially name a squad of 12 tomorrow and leave the final selection until just before the toss, depending on the nature of the pitch.

Gaekwad has indicated that no fewer than 10 are certain of their place. They are: Mohammed Azharuddin (capt), Navjot Singh Sidhu, Ajay Jadeja, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Nayan Mongia (wk), Anil Kumble, Javagal Srinath and Venkatesh Prasad.

Candidates for the last place are one of the two seamers, Robin Singh (jr) or Debashish Mohanty and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.