India v New Zealand – Opportunity for a reversal in India’s Test fortunes – Part 2
Continued from Part 1 ...
Their recent record would suggest that the Indian team is likely to have their work cut out for them against the Kiwis in the upcoming two-match Test series. However, a ray of hope emerges if their last three Test series played at home are taken into account,
during which they have fared better in comparison to their shocking performances abroad.
A 2-match Test series against the visiting Australian team saw India besting the tourists, 2-0, during October 2010. Zaheer Khan remained the stand-out bowler, claiming a total of 12 wickets, and the batsmen managed respectable performances – http://www.senore.com/Cricket/M-Vijay-c1867
scored 139 during the second Test, while Tendulkar managed a double century.
November 2010 saw the Indian team continuing to claim Test victories on home soil, as they bagged a 1-0 (3) victory over the touring New Zealand team. Sehwag managed one century, while Dravid, and surprisingly http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Harbhajan-Singh-c61453, both managed two tons each.
Harbhajan, in particular appeared to be in prime form – in addition to scores of 115 and 111*, he also scored a half-century (69).
Home conditions continued to favour India, as their 3-match Test series against the West Indies, in November 2011 resulted in a 2-0 win for the hosts. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/RD-Shah-c2298 Ashwin both put in stellar bowling performances, with the former claiming 20 scalps,
and the latter bagging 22, while Dravid, Laxman, and skipper http://www.senore.com/Cricket/MS-Dhoni-c2028 all managed one century each.
Added to the decent record at home, which suggests that India may be able to reverse their fortunes in the extended-overs format, is the fact that their opponents should not pose too much of a threat.
The Kiwis, who are at number 8 on the ICC’s Test team rankings, have not won an extended-overs series against a Test-playing nation other than http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Zimbabwe-c3045 in years. Their recent tour of the Caribbean ended with a miserable 0-2 Test series defeat
against the http://www.senore.com/Cricket/West-Indies-c760 – a loss which is sure to have left the team considerably weakened and low on morale.
India’s squad for the upcoming Test series against the Black Caps features some new and returning faces, all of whom will be eager to make an impression. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/VVS-Laxman-c2772, whose future as a Test batsman came under the shadow of doubt following his dismal outings
during the extended-overs series in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746 earlier this year (he scored 155 runs in eight innings), is all set for a comeback after being named in the squad. The 37-year-old’s vast experience of 134 Test matches (with 8781 wickets to his name) has the potential
to help him in tapping into the form that saw him winning matches for the team.
Laxman will be joining the ranks of veterans Sehwag, Gambhir, and Tendulkar on the tour – however, the team will sorely miss Dravid, who has been the saving grace during the team’s recent Test performances, but retired from the game earlier this year. His
absence, however, sees batsmen like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/India-c750 will be hoping for more solid performances from their batsmen this time around.
The bowling line-up features the return of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/England-c56013. His presence
is likely to boost the attack, which also features Ashwin, Ojha, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Z-Khan-c98379.
Keeping their recent performances in view, the series against New Zealand has the potential to serve as a springboard for the Indian team in Test cricket, which can help them return to their previous form, and move on to bigger and better things.
The two-match Test series between India and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Hyderabad-c792 from August 23 to 27, while the second match will take place at the M
Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore from August 31 to September 4.
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