New Zealand vs India 2014: Five things to look forward to before the first test

After that rather forgetful ODI series, we can hope that Dhoni and Co. are looking to make amends for it in the upcoming Test series. India sure did look better in the whites against the Proteas after a miserable one day outing in South Africa.

The Kiwis, meanwhile, have a record to better. They have only three test wins at home since 2011. What’s even less impressive is the fact that these wins have come against the likes of West Indies (2 wins) and Zimbabwe (1 win).

MS Dhoni would want to go home with a win. A draw would still not be a desired result for a captain who likes to collect those trophy stumps after a winning game.

India have to look to win the series to keep the respect of being the world No. 2 team in the ICC test rankings. So, what do we need to look at in the eve of the first test?

1. Zaheer Khan’s form: 

Zaheer would want to impress yet again

He is back. He is looking good. He needs to get among wickets to leave a mark on his return. What better an opportunity than playing in New Zealand? He has been strong against the Kiwis, if previous records are anything to look at. On a track that is conducive for fast bowling, it would be interesting to see this Mumbai pacer perform.

2. Facing the short ball: 

The Indians haven’t looked even a wee bit comfortable against the short ball.

It’s that time again when we ask this question to our Indian batters. Are we really able to play the short ball? One look at Shikhar Dhawan‘s dismissal record in the ODI series and we get a definitive  answer to that age old question. It’s pretty clear by now that the Kiwis will continue to use the short ball against the Indian batsmen.

They are good at it and they have been able to get our batsmen out with alarming consistency.  Although Virat Kohli has kind of mastered the short ball in these conditions, the rest of the line up leaves much to be desired, particularly Dhawan, Rohit Sharma and Murali Vijay.