1-all! New Zealanda and India battle it out in white

New Zealand surprisingly won the Twenty20 International series quite confortably, and India did the same to New Zealand in the ODI Series - which means we are 1-all? Not for long as these two teams battle it out in the test arena.

India will be red hot favorites to take this series based on current form and rankings. However, the way New Zealand dismantled the Indians in the 5th ODI has shown that anything can happen. If New Zealand play like they did in the 5th ODI, India could be in for a surprise - especially in the 1st 2 days of the first test match. We could see India's batting line-up ripped apart and New Zealand posting a decent lead with a much-better looking test batting line-up than in the past. However, on India's day - Sehwag and the rest of the Indian batting lineup could send the ball to all corners of the park and a score of 400 + on the first day would be likely. If the India's bowlers fire, we might even see the test matches finished in 3 or 4 days.

If both New Zealand and India are playing at their best, then we are definitely in for a contest.

Players to watch out for:

New Zealand:

Daniel Vettori had a fairly quiet ODI series, expect him to shine with ball and bat with his matchwinning qualities (especially when he single-handledly beat Bangladesh, taking 9 wickets and scoring two fifties)

Daniel Flynn has been in peak test form ever since being promoted to bat at number 3. He seems to have so much temperament and class when he's there. He's due for a big score after his unlucky referral dismissal in the 90s.

James Franklin has come out of the wilderness again! His most recent first class game rendered him one fifty, one century and 3 1st innings wickets. Useful addition to New Zealand squad.

India:

Virender Sehwag absolutely destroyed the New Zealand bowlers in every match he has played so far. Expect the same except the difference is, he's in white.

Sachin Tendulkar. Well what more can be said. One of the best strokemakers in cricket and looks in really good form. Wouldn't be suprised if he scores at least 2-3 centuries in this test series.


New Zealand Test Squad:

Daniel Vettori (c) Daniel Flynn
Brent Arnel James Franklin
Martin Guptill Brendon McCullum (wk)
Tim McIntosh Chris Martin
Kyle Mills Iain O'Brien
Jeetan Patel Jesse Ryder
Ross Taylor

India Test Squad:

MS Dhoni Lakshmipathy Balaji
Rahul Dravid Gautam Gambhir
Harbhajan Singh Dinesh Karthik (wk)
Zaheer Khan Dhawal Kulkarni
VVS Laxman Amit Mishra
Munaf Patel Virender Sehwag
Ishant Sharma Sachin Tendulkar
M Vijay Yuvraj Singh