Ready to battle in the heat

Ahmedabad, in the second summer that hits many Indian cities during October, is a baking, simmering venue for the first Test between India and New Zealand. The Sardar Patel Stadium at Motera is a chequerboard of sere-brown and weak-green squares, and the all-vital 22-yard strip has only faint tinges of green on an otherwise dusty surface.

Both Stephen Fleming and Sourav Ganguly, however, used the adjective "good" to describe the pitch. Fleming, pointing out that it still had one day to dry under the sun, opted to leave the announcement of his team's composition until the toss.

In a significant departure from the past, the Indian team management named their final XI well before the match. L Balaji was named in the line-up, ensuring that there will be two debutants in the Indian team (Akash Chopra is the other). Yuvraj Singh, Aavishkar Salvi and Sairaj Bahutule were omitted from the 14-man squad named earlier.

Fleming refused to read too much into his side's none-too-heartening performances against the Board President's XI at Visakhapatnam and India A at Rajkot. "They were four days of cricket after a six-month layoff," he said. "There were some good things that came out of them, and some cobwebs blown away." Ganguly too was cautious about dismissing New Zealand on the basis of their lead-up games. "The mindset in a Test match is different from that in a warm-up match, and you can't really say anything about New Zealand's form."

The games, Fleming said, were as vital an element of practice as the much-talked-about "simulated conditions" New Zealand employed during their preparation. "The heat is a huge factor, admittedly, but it isn't humid, so that is good for us," he said. "We are more likely to perspire than the Indians, and this suits us better."

Fleming went on: "It'll be a tough battle. We expect the expectations of the Indian team to win 2-0, because of the public and the media. We can't be any more prepared than we are now, and most of it from hereon in will be mental."

In the mental balance-sheet, India can claim the edge, and not just because of their prowess at home. When these two sides last met at Ahmedabad, in 1999, India piled up 583 in the first innings, with Sachin Tendulkar hitting 217 and Ganguly 125. Little wonder, then, that Ganguly said confidently: "If you look at the performances and the statistics, we can be confident of doing well."

Ganguly did let drop veiled hints that he did not favour the omission of Sanjay Bangar, which disrupted any possibilities of fielding five bowlers and allowing them longer spells of rest under the hot sun. "Sanjay is not in the side, for whatever reasons, so the role of fifth bowler will be shared by myself, Sachin and Virender Sehwag."

The heat will be a crucial influence on this Test. Even natives of Ahmedabad were surprised at the high temperatures, and hopeful of a spot of rain to cool things down. None seems in the offing, however, and the heat will only climb when many thousands of spectators fill this bowl of concrete to cheer on the players tomorrow.

Teams
India 1 Akash Chopra, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Parthiv Patel (wk), 8 Anil Kumble, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 L Balaji.

New Zealand (from)
Mark Richardson, Lou Vincent, Richard Jones, Stephen Fleming (capt), Nathan Astle, Craig McMillan, Scott Styris, Jacob Oram, Robbie Hart (wk), Daniel Vettori, Ian Butler, Michael Mason, Daryl Tuffey, Paul Wiseman.

Sun, sweat and plenty of fluids - Tour diary
'Tendulkar can be a match-winner with the ball' - Wright