Talking about India’s chances in the upcoming Test series against New Zealand at home, Pragyan Ojha, the left-arm spinner, feels that the Men in Blue will start the competition as favourites, although they failed to deliver the goods against England and Australia in the five-day format last year.
The first Test of the series is going to commence on August 23rd at Hyderabad, with the home team having the upper hand, taking into account the Black Caps’ miserable performance in the recently concluded series against West Indies.
The two Tests will be followed by as many T20 Internationals and both the teams are taking this series as a preparation for the ICC World T20 2012, which will be played in Sri Lanka in September/October.
India was the number one ranked Test team of the world till last year, before being whitewashed by England and Australia on consecutive foreign tours, to slip down the rankings.
Ojha however, is optimistic that his team will turn the tables in the upcoming battle because of their historic superiority over the Kiwis and the home advantage.
"There are always ups and downs in one's life and the same is true with a team. I feel it was a bad phase for Team India as we didn't do as well. On top of it, it is a home series and we have always done well at home," the cricketer from Orissa said. "The players are used to the conditions here and hence Team India definitely has the upper hand against the Kiwis."
Mahendra Singh Dhoni will most probably rely on Ojha and Ravichandran Ashwin in the Test series, because of the nature of the tracks, which are likely to assist the spinners.
The left-arm spinner expressed that he loves to bowl alongside Ashwin, who also possesses the ability to bamboozle the batsmen with his variations. Ojha said that both of them have done well as a pair in the past.
"In the Test series against the West Indies last year, we forged a really good partnership. We took 42 wickets which show how well we do as a team," Ojha mentioned.
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