Kiwis — Hi-tech, but what about cricket?

So, the Kiwis have handed Round One to India but in the same breath, they are quick to point that they are riding on their win in England. A win in India willbe a major boost to their slate. The point then is, do they have enough ammunition to counter the Indians in India? In England, their success story was weaved by the trio of Dion Nash, Chris Cairns and Daniel Vettori and the three, along with the southpaw skipper Stephen Fleming look their best bets here too.

Of course, seamers Cairns and Nash would have to contend with wickets bereft of grass, quite unlike England. The three Tests will be played in Mohali, Kanpur and Ahmedabad and of the three, only Mohali has the reputation of being of some help to the seamers, particularly in the morning sessions. On the other hand, the spinners will be keen on bowling on the wickets in Kanpur and Ahmedabad.

In that case, the Kiwi seam duo will have to play a supporting role if not rendered useless altogether to Vettori, an enterprising left-arm spinner. Vettori is young, confident and has good variations in his bowling but how well he will fare against the Indian batsmen, born and brought up on such wickets, remainsto be seen. Remember what happened to the `Wizard of Oz’, Shane Warne, when Australia toured India last year? He confessed to having nightmares a good three months after that tour!

Will the Indian batsmen do the same to Vettori? Chances are that the Indians will indeed go after him with full knowledge that destroying him early would leave the Kiwi bowling in a shambles.

Batting will hold the key to the series. The Kiwis have a brittle lineup and it is here that the Indian spinners would like to make the inroads. As of now, Cairns seems to be the one Kiwi batsman the Indians will be wary of. If the Kiwi selectors were willing to take risk with his fitness — he had to pass a fitness test it shows the respect for his batting prowess. Cairns is one of the best through-the-line hitters in contemporary cricket and if he gets going, the small Indian grounds will need somebody to pick and throw the ball from outside the stadium!

Fleming needs a win here for reasons different to his Indian counterpart SachinTendulkar. If Tendulkar, in his second stint, needs to justify his fitness and appointment, Fleming wants to build on his team’s semifinal-run in the World Cup and their show against England in the Test series. The Indians will be "match-fit" (if you call it) but they have been playing only limited-overs cricket for the past 40 days or so. Left-arm spinner Sunil Joshi has shown excellent form while Nikhil Chopra will give his fellow off spinner Harbhajan Singh a run for his money for a place in the three-spin pronged Indian team but leggie Anil Kumble, the Indian match-winner for long, is playing in the Irani Trophy, trying to impress the selectors. Hope the Kiwi support cast has noted down all this. That’s good. Their players will need all this, and more.