Its the return of an early morning ritual that Indian fans practise every few years,especially on the opening day of the opening Test in New Zealand. Several generations of cricket followers have jumped out of their beds at an ungodly hour,woken up by a rattling alarm clock,banking on coffee to keep them awake as they follow their cricketers in a time-zone seven-and-half hours ahead of IST. Radios and TV sets have endured fidgety fingers turning knobs or flicking buttons with the hope of hearing some good news. But for the last four decades,the sights and sounds have been discouraging. The last such instance was in December of 2002. By the time milkmen across the country rang doorbells,the Indians in Wellington were having tea with the scoreboard showing 128 And the thud of the newspaper almost coincided with India folding up for 161. There were arguments among disgusted commuters that morning,and debates between beady-eyed office-goers about the reasons for the collapse. Some blamed it on green pitches,others sniggered at how the Indians were flat-track bullies. Not many mentioned that this was nothing new. With Indias opening-Test score sequence over the previous three tours being 208,164 and 100,161 was on expected lines. But for Indian cricket fans,sleepless nights are not fuelled by rationale but by the adrenaline rush of unreasonable expectations. During this tour,India woke up early for the one-dayers and T20s,but the graveyard shift will start only during the Tests because of a 3:30 am start. This time,however,the expectations of good news from Hamilton may be more reasonable than before,and backed by facts and figures rather than just by crossed fingers. Never before have Team India played their opening Test after already being in New Zealand for a month. And since theyve scored 1,583 runs from 240 overs since arriving here,batting collapses havent really been the norm. Also,the tinge of green on the wickets has been conspicuous by its absence. While the success enjoyed by the likes of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar wasnt such a big surprise,when Suresh Raina hits five sixes in 18 balls,its a clear indication that things have changed. The only real blip on the radar was Indias 149 in the last game at Auckland,where they encountered bounce for the first time. Hamilton,too,promises some carry but,with Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman joining the line-up,the Test squad seems better equipped to negotiate it. Dravid scored 190 and 103 in Test in Hamilton in 1998-99. For New Zealand,nothing much has changed over the years. They are still a team without stars and with several committed foot-soldiers. But seaming conditions would be a basic requirement to trigger an Indian collapse. And thats where the home teams dilemma crops up. Indian quicks Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma have now ensured that host teams have to come with a fresh blueprint against India. With India boasting of the best left-right new-ball attack in the world at the moment,the old ploy of giving them a green top comes with a statutory warning. This time,finally,there may not be any rude awakenings in India. Live on Sony Max Wednesday,3:30 am
