While the Indians are hoping Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be pronounced fit, the home selectors have included top order batsman Daniel Flynn and bowler Tim Southee in the side for the third and final Test beginning at Wellington's Basin reserve tomorrow
While the Indians are hoping Mahendra Singh Dhoni will be pronounced fit, the home selectors have included top order batsman Daniel Flynn and bowler Tim Southee in the side for the third and final Test beginning at Wellington's Basin reserve tomorrow.
"To have MSD will be great. He offers a lot as a batsman as well," Gary Kirsten, coach of the Indian team, said yesterday. "He would be of great value to any team in the world. We are hoping he will be fit.
Dhoni missed last week's second Test at Napier because of a sore back and his absence, as inspirational and innovative captain and wicket-keeper batsman, was greatly felt.
"I think the amount of pressure we put India under was fantastic," Vettori said after the match.
"It was just the fact the wicket was just too good and India batted a lot more conservatively than they did in the first innings... the chances weren't there on a wicket of that nature."
In the now routine pre-match mind games, Martin said the Indian team, which has not won a Test at Wellington in 34 years, will find the chilly weather conditions 'difficult to adapt to'.
However, Gary Kirsten pooh-poohed the suggestion saying there was no reason to be hassled about the wicket or the cold, windy conditions.
Southee conceded 105 runs to the Indian batsmen without taking a wicket in the third one-dayer at Christchurch, but has been recalled to the 13-man squad after good performances in recent State Championships games.
Former Test opening batsman Glen Turner, who is now head of the New Zealand selection panel, said yesterday: "Tim's inclusion gives us additional options with the new ball, and strengthens the attack against this strong Indian batting line-up."
Leading all-rounder Jacob Oram was not considered for inclusion because of injury.
Flynn is recovering from a bruised left hand after being struck by a ball in the first Test. But he is expected to be fit for inclusion in a batting line-up whose morale is at its zenith after authoritative batting by Jesse Ryder (201), Ross Taylor (151) and Brendon McCullum (115) in the second Test, which put India under severe pressure after being asked to follow-on.
According to the grapevine, the perception among the Kiwi bowlers is that, for all its vaunted top order, the Indian tail is "dodgy".
Tomorrow, New Zealand's legendary all-rounder Richard Hadlee will become the first New Zealand player to be formally inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame.
He will receive a commemorative cap to mark the occasion, when he will also launch the ICC centenary medal during New Zealand's Catch the Spirit week which will be celebrated during the match.
According to ICC president David Morgan: "The medals are a reflection that cricket, like all other sports, could not survive without the selfless acts on behalf of the game by countless volunteers, coaches, curators, scorers, drivers, security personnel and the such."
*****
Haidee Tiffin, who led the New Zealand women's team to second place at the recent women's World Cup in Australia, has retired from international cricket.
A Christchurch teacher, Tifin made her international debut against South Africa in 1968-69, aged 19, and went on to become one of the leading all-rounders in the game.
Tiffin played 117 international one-dayers, averaging 30.72 with the bat, and took 49 wickets at an average of 19.48.
She also played two Tests and nine international Twenty20s, but New Zealand's World Cup win in 2000 in her country was the highlight of her career.
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