Revenge will be the key word for the Indians as they launch a new cricketing season with a couple of fresh faces and the hope of settling an old score with New Zealand in the first Test of the two-match home series, beginning at Ahmedabad on Wednesday.
A long break from the game has left the Indians hungry for success, and, needless to say, they go into the series as favourites. But captain Sourav Ganguly has warned his teammates not to be complacent against the Kiwis, who are determined to record their first Test series triumph on Indian soil.
India's humiliating defeats on seamer-friendly tracks during their tour of New Zealand late last year has raised speculation of a tit-for-tat response from the hosts, who boast of an impressive track record at home.
Though both captain Ganguly and coach John Wright have played down the grudge factor, they are keen to turn tables on the visitors, who find conquering India in their own backyard a tougher challenge than playing Australia.
"We did not win the series in New Zealand when we toured there last year. But we managed to beat them in the World Cup. So things are now even," Ganguly said.
But New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming is fully aware of the challenges in store for his team in the first Test.
"We anticipate turning wickets in India. We need to apply ourselves well. It's going to be a great challenge," he said.
The match will see opener Akash Chopra and paceman Laxmipathy Balaji making their debut for India. The home team, which will be going in with a new pair of opening batsmen in Virender Sehwag and Chopra, has a very impressive batting line-up which could prove quite a handful for the visitors, particularly in Indian conditions.
The team boasts of the best batsman in the world in Sachin Tendulkar, who will be itching to score his 32nd Test hundred, which will put him on par with Aussie skipper Steve Waugh and take him a step closer to the legendary Sunil Gavaskar's world record of 34 centuries.
At one drop, the hosts have one of the most solid batsmen in contemporary cricket in Rahul Dravid, who time and again comes up with important knocks when the chips are down, followed by Tendulkar in the number four position.
The skipper himself is slated to come at number five. Ganguly is short of a big Test score for quite some time now and this could be the ideal opportunity for him to strike form before the bigger challenges ahead, like the tour to Australia later this year.
V V S Laxman, who turned tables on the formidable Aussies during their tour of India a couple of years ago with a majestic 281, will be playing tomorrow, leaving young Yuvraj Singh to wait for his first Test cap.
The stylish Hyderabad batsman has a lot to prove and will be raring to go, while local lad and wicketkeeper Parthiv Patel is all set to play his first Test on his home turf.
India will go in with two spinners -- leggie Anil Kumble, who needs just one more wicket to become the second Indian bowler to take 350 or more Test wickets behind former India skipper Kapil Dev, and off-spinner Harbhajan Singh, who was instrumental in destroying the formidable Aussie batting line-up in 2001.
The new ball will be shared by left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan and Balaji, who was preferred over Aavishkar Salvi for his nagging accuracy and control.
Salvi, Yuvraj Singh and the second leg spinner in the squad, Sairaj Bahutule, will have to sit on the reserves bench.
The visitors, who will announce their final eleven tomorrow, have a major problem on hand with frontline batsmen, including Fleming and consistent performers Nathan Astle and Scott Styris, failing cheaply in both the innings of the Rajkot three-day tie against India 'A'.
However, opening batsman Mark Richardson and all-rounder Jacob Oram have struck form, slamming confidence-boosting hundreds, and coach Ashley Ross is optimistic that the other batsmen will be among runs during the match.
Though the other opener, Lou Vincent, and the dangerous Craig McMillan failed in the first innings at Rajkot, they managed to hold the innings together in the second essay after the visitors were reduced to 39 for four.
Wicketkeeper-batsman Robbie Hart was quite impressive behind the wicket but proved technically inadequate while facing the only India 'A' spinner, Murali Kartik.
The Kiwis' bowling, particularly the new ball bowlers, have shown the will to bowl long spells though only Oram and Daryl Tuffey were among wickets. All-rounder Styris and part time bowler Craig McMillan have to really pull up their socks to make any impact on the Indian batsmen.
Among the spinners, only left arm spinner Daniel Vettori looks like making an impact on the Indians while Paul Wiseman looked very ordinary against the India 'A' batsmen at Rajkot.
With Wiseman bowling unimpressively, the visitors might opt for a third seamer in either Michael Mason or Ian Butler.
India have so far won only two out of six Test matches played in Ahmedabad. Their only defeat at the venue came against the West Indies while they have drawn the other three matches, against Pakistan, England and New Zealand. The two wins came against South Africa and Sri Lanka.
Meanwhile, Nadeem Memon, who is in charge of preparing the wicket, said: "The wicket would be a sporting one.
"The first two days of the match will help the batsmen and then the wicket will turn and bounce and could assist the spinners for the remaining part of the match."
The umpires for the first Test are Rudi Koertzen of South Africa and David Shepherd of England. The third umpire is I Shivaram of India.
Teams:
New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (capt), Nathan Astle, Ian Butler, Robbie Hart (wicketkeeper), Richard Jones, Craig McMillan, Michael Mason, Jacob Oram, Mark Richardson, Scott Styris, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent, Paul Wiseman.
India: Sourav Ganguly (capt), Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid, V V S Laxman, Akash Chopra, Parthiv Patel (wicketkeeper), Anil Kumble, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, L Balaji.
Umpires: David Shepherd (Eng) and Rudi Koertzen (SA).
Third umpire: I Shivaram (Ind). Fourth umpire: S K Porel (Ind).
Match referee: Ranjan Mudugale (Sri Lanka).
Play sessions: 9.30 am to 11.30 am, 12.10 pm to 2.10 pm and 2.30 pm to 4.30 pm.
