Indian cricket coach John Wright hopes his batsmen will give the New Zealand public a display of what they are capable of in the seven one-day internationals between the two sides starting on Thursday.
Wright's charges come off a 2-0 drubbing in the low scoring two Test series in which only three batsmen from the two sides managed to sufficiently counter the weather-affected pitches in Wellington and Hamilton to score half-centuries -- India's Rahul Dravid (76) and Sachin Tendulkar (51) and New Zealand's Mark Richardson (89).
"The one-day pitches will suit the batsmen more," Wright said. "I hope our batsmen can go out and show the cricket people of New Zealand how they have become one of the most feared line-ups in world cricket."
India's last one-day series was a 3-4 home loss to the West Indies completed days before the team flew to New Zealand.
For the seven one-dayers in New Zealand, beginning in Auckland on Thursday, India have sent fast bowlers Javagal Srinath and uncapped Rakesh Patel, leg-spinner Anil Kumble and batsman Yuvraj Singh to join the rest of the squad.
Left-arm speedster Ashish Nehra got to stay on by virtue of a controlled, hostile spell of three for 34 against New Zealand as the home side inched to victory in the recently completed Hamilton Test.
New Zealand have left out Scott Styris, one of the more accomplished one-day players during this year's series in the West Indies when he had scores of 85 and 63 batting at number six and took six for 25
He has been deemed the unlucky man among the all-rounders -- for the first two matches at least -- and must now do the business in domestic one-dayers to get back into the frame for the third match in Christchurch on New Year's Day, when other all-rounders Chris Cairns, Chris Harris and Andre Adams should be available after injury.
Interest will focus on Brendon McCullum, the 20-year-old Otago wicketkeeper and explosive batsman who had a tough baptism in the Australian one-day series early this year as an opening batsman only.
This time he will bat at six or seven as well as work behind the stumps. Dennis Aberhart, the New Zealand coach, enthused over the depth at the top of the one-day game in the country and welcomed the logjam of all-rounders after a place.
"The depth, with others coming back from injury, means people will need to be on top of their game to stay in the side for the World Cup. It's going to be tough for some."
Teams:
New Zealand: from Stephen Fleming (captain), Nathan Astle, Shane Bond, Paul Hitchcock, Kyle Mills, Brendon McCullum, Craig McMillan, Jacob Oram, Daryl Tuffey, Mathew Sinclair, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent.
India: from Saurav Ganguly (captain), Ajit Agarkar, Sanjay Bangar, Rahul Dravid, Harbhajan Singh, Mohammad Kaif, Zaheer Khan, Anil Kumble, Vangipurappu Laxman, Parthiv Patel, Virender Sehwag, Javagal Srinath, Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh, Rakesh Patel, Ashish Nehra.
