Crossing the boundary

It is a somewhat bizarre statistic, one the Indian cricket team will hope to erase in the next three days. Yet, the question still remains as to why the sub-continental powerhouse have failed to win a Test series on New Zealand soil for the past 41 years.

New Zealand, after all, was the venue of India's first away win – an emphatic 3-1 result – back in 1967. Since then it has become a barren hunting ground – in the six times Indian teams have toured, they have lost and drawn three times each.

Contrast that to the eight occasions the Black Caps have visited the sub-continent. On home soil India have beaten New Zealand in six Test series, drawing only twice.

Balwinder Sandhu, a member of the 1983 World Cup winning India team, believes one of the reasons behind the country's failure in New Zealand lies in the lack of warm-up games available ahead of the series.

"Usually before a long tour you should play a few games before the series, which helps you get used to the [foreign] conditions," says Sandhu. "During this time the summer starts and we're playing on a different wicket in India. After a local series it is not easy to go and adjust to the conditions in New Zealand.

"Whereas going to England, for example, where the conditions are quite similar, you get to play a lot of warm-up games before the main series.

"That is one of the reasons why India would struggle there – not the only reason, but one of the reasons."

India, though, lead their current series against New Zealand 1-0 and a draw in the final Test, which ends on Tuesday, will be enough to banish those past demons. The visitors were ruthless in the first match in Hamilton, where a Sachin Tendulkar century helped them to a 10-wicket win.

However, last week in Napier, it was a different story. Forced to follow-on by a rampant New Zealand, India needed an 11-hour innings by Gautam Gambhir (137) to steal a draw and keep them on course for a series win.

The spirited fight back by India in the latter part of the match showed the quality and depth available in the current team and Sandhu believes the Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led side are "on current form, better than both Australia and South Africa", the No1 and No2 ranked Test countries respectively.

"It is definitely a good side playing good cricket," says the 52-year-old. "The main similarity between the 1983 World Cup team and this side is that they're gelling together very well and enjoying each others' company.

"There may be one or two tiffs that emerge on tours, but overall I think they're playing as a team.

"All the batsmen are in good form and they have a very strong line-up where each one knows his responsibility. Sachin Tendulkar is playing a very positive role in the sense he can inspire people to lift their game up just like [Sunil] Gavaskar did in the past.

"We have a very innovative captain [Dhoni], who does things that may seem illogical to the purists of the game, but when you start thinking outside the box you can do wonders. He is leading the side in a very street-smart way.

"So overall, the team is playing well and, on present form, they're playing better than the top two teams. In the last Test match, which would have been very difficult for any team to win, they showed a lot of determination to fight back and raise their game up."

The recent relocation of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to South Africa, due to the local government elections taking place at the time, may help the ability of Indian cricketers to adjust to foreign conditions in future.

Under the rules of the IPL, each of the eight sides in the Twenty20 event, which starts on April 18, a minimum of eight Indian players must be in each squad, while two have to be under the age of 22. These youths playing on the bouncy, seaming South African pitches as opposed to the slower, turning wickets on the sub-continent is beneficial for their development, according to Sandhu.

"I think it's a good thing for the players to get used to those conditions," says the Mumbai-born former medium pace-bowler. "A lot of domestic cricketers will be playing there so it is a blessing in disguise.

"They will get to know about those conditions and if they play for India in the future they will know how to tackle them. In that sense, it is better."

What is worse, says Sandhu, is the fact that India "can't hold our domestic tournament at home." However, he doesn't begrudge the reasoning behind the move.

"That is the sad part, but we all understand the security point," he adds. "No government in these elections will take chances because if some incident happens, even a small incident, they will lose the elections. So it is better off playing the IPL away.

"It probably won't be dangerous for the IPL, but the government wouldn't want to take that chance, because elections are bread and butter for them. The political parties will start blaming each other for a lapse in security and then they will lose the elections."


Wisden Five

England's Claire Taylor has become the first woman to be named as one of the Five Cricketers of the Year by Wisden, the sport's annual of record yesterday.

South Africa dominate the remainder of the 2009 Five Cricketers of the Year.

Wicket-keeper Mark Boucher and opening batsman Neil McKenzie are honoured for their roles in the Proteas' Test series win in England last year,, while their compatriot Dale Benkenstein is recognised for his role in captaining Durham to their first English County Championship title in 2008.

This year's list is completed by England fast bowler James Anderson. (AFP)