New Zealand wary of Indian backlash in final ODI

Wellington Elated after managing to surprise India with consistent performances New Zealand allrounder Nathan McCullum today said his team will aim for a 40 result in the ongoing ODI series by going full throttle in the inconsequential fifth and final match here tomorrowNathan McCullumAt the same time McCullum stated that the hosts will be wary of a backlash in the final match ahead of the crucial twoTest series starting in Auckland on February 6 I guess the Indian team has been surprised with how consistent we have been But they have still played some fantastic cricketWe have just seen a great ODI series here and thats fantastic for oneday cricket and very exciting for international cricket McCullum told reporters here They will be quite hurt with the way we have taken things away from them at certain points but they are not too far away from performing at their best So they probably have to give us a bit of credit as well for fantastic performances throughout the series he opinedThe hosts have sealed the series with victories in Napier and Hamilton twice while tying the third ODI in Auckland When we first set out to play this series we thought a win would be really fantastic said McCullum But the way we have played this series to be as consistent as we have 40 will be a fantastic result If we play as well as we have done the result will be irrelevant McCullum said the Kiwis have been a tad casual in their approach in the years gone by but that is changing for the better nowIf you look at previous years of New Zealand cricket we have seen a lackadaisical approach where we have lost a few games wherein we have wanted to win them So this is not only an opportunity for us to win the series 40 but also to be consistent and that is the theme of the side at the momentNew Zealand have done well against South Africa England and India in the last calendar year giving them immense confidence in this 2015 World Cup buildup year a fact highlighted by McCullum There are a lot of positives about the way we are going about our game at the moment The other day we chased down a good total on a wicket that is pretty tough in New Zealand in terms of spin bowlingIt does help when you are put though different situations because you are still playing three facets of the game and you want to do well with the bat and the ball while also doing well in the field McCullum said Apart from that one loss or one tie we have been pretty consistentAnd we have been trying to improve so that is pretty good team environment at the moment If we can get to that World Cup after showing that we can be very consistent over a period of time then that will be the right message we can send out he added From a personal point of view it hasnt been a particularly successful series for the allrounderEven as the Indian batsmen have struggled against short bowling they have overcome his offbreaks with ease giving away only one wicket in the process Obviously they are very good players of spin facing such bowling everyday on tougher wickets than here They like to attack spin bowling and it has been a great challenge playing against the Indian batsmen in my own backyard and on wickets that dont really turn a lot with short boundaries as wellIts been a hell of a challenge but I have really enjoyed it and I am looking forward to tomorrow as well he said The other flavour of the month here is the upcoming IPL auction While Ross Taylor and his elder brother Brendon McCullum should invite good bids at the event one man who has caught everyones attention is Corey AndersonHe has been given a base price of Rs 12 crore but is expected to fetch a lot more Anderson is a young guy and he has shown some immense talent He is learning a lot as he is going along aswell Also I wouldnt be surprised if there are a number of guys who are picked up or targeted Anyone that bowls bats or fields well has a reasonable chance in that sort of an environment When you do that fruits come for people who are doing things right McCullum signed off