*Official* New Zealand vs India Tests & ODIs

[Tim]

Well thats the point, i've rarely seen a spinner get extreme turn in NZ apart from the special cases like Murali and he didn't even get great turn last time Sri Lanka were here in 2001.

Vettori will be ok though because he is more a flight & drift bowler whereas Harbhajan might have to experiment a bit more because he's unlikely to get assistance from the pitch.

 

[Tim]

I think the balance of the NZ test team will be quite good. Looking at Robbie Hart, sure he's not going to set the world on fire with his batting..in the West Indies he did a great job of sticking it out & scoring 20's & 30's & on one occassion a 50. But as Ian Healy said the otherday, having a specialist keeper in International cricket is still so underrated and thats what Robbie Hart is.
IMO, a keeper's ability to keep wickets should come ahead of how he bats because even if he can only add 20 runs with the bat, you need those hard stumping & catching chances that a specialist can deal with.

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

I think India have the edge in batting but I would have to pick NZ in terms of bowling. I don't pick NZ to win the series but I think they'll play well. At this point both teams look fairly even.

 

[Tim]

Yeah India might have a better batting lineup, but NZ's batting line-up is incredibly good at home. And if you remember last season up until the away series in Pakistan the NZ batting line-up had not been bowled out in 8 or 9 tests.

Its going to be a good series & I think you're underrating the strength of the NZ batting at home anyway. You'd have a valid reason if they were playing in India because they don't seem to bat aswell.

 

[lord_of_darkness]

Yup no doubt N.Z has the best bowling side here by far...

N.Z have Bond , Cairns , Vettori , Adams , Harris, Styris , partimers who should be called frontliners Astle , MacMillan,

I think the whole n.z team can bowl really..

 

[Tim]

I think taking catches could be crucial aswell...NZ i'd say are up there in the top 3 as far as fielding goes and India do have Kaif & Yuvraj, but they're going to need to cover a large distance to make up for the rest of the fielders.

 

[Kimbo]

lets hope the catching is of a higher standard than what we saw at adelaide... apart from mcgrath of course

 

[Rik]

Originally posted by lord_of_darkness
Yup no doubt N.Z has the best bowling side here by far...

N.Z have Bond , Cairns , Vettori , Adams , Harris, Styris , partimers who should be called frontliners Astle , MacMillan,

I think the whole n.z team can bowl really..

Hmmmm most of them can, cept the keeper of course, and Vincent and Fleming. Richardson could be useful or has he just given up? You can't just loose ability like that...

 

[marc71178]

I assume the pitches are drop ins?

 

[Tim]

Wellington & Hamilton aren't..

Auckland & Christchurch are. Mind you...the drop in pitch at Christchurch for the NZ/Eng test earlier the year was brilliant because it gave every player regardless of their specialty to make the most of it.

 

[Gotchya]

New Zealand will definitely pose a bigger challenge to India. With Cairns and Bond they already have the armour to test the Indian Batting line up. I have this theory that if the Indian batting can be reined in you are three fourth their to beating them.

A tougher bowling opposition and we might see India struggling. Still though one would expect the likes of Tendulkar and Dravid to cash in heavily...interesting series and will have serious implications on the World cup vows of both sides !

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Surely Dravid must be gtting tired by now....surely.....maybe not

 

[Gotchya]

Surely Dravid must be gtting tired by now....surely.....maybe not

The weather up in NZ isn't very draining so you wont have your wish

 

[Mr Mxyzptlk]

Oh well...

 

[Kiwi]

I am going to watch the Max Cricket on Wednesday after my training with my team. Should be awesome to watch.

 

[Kimbo]

yea i cant wait. i am gonna watch it- on tv though... damn you tamara.
unfortunately i have practice right in the middle of it...grrrrrrrr

 

[lord_of_darkness]

The weather up in NZ isn't very draining so you wont have your wish

Lol i havent heard of the Indian team struggling in any touring country weather wise or food wise , i think they complain least in world cricket because they have faced both extremes...

 

[Kiwi]

Originally posted by Sunil Havascar
yea i cant wait. i am gonna watch it- on tv though... damn you tamara.
unfortunately i have practice right in the middle of it...grrrrrrrr

I miss the first hour but it still will be worth it

 

[lord_of_darkness]

I miss the first hour but it still will be worth

I wont be here will be on the flight :-(

 

[Kiwi]

Originally posted by lord_of_darkness

I miss the first hour but it still will be worth

I wont be here will be on the flight :-(

Where u off to???