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{/source}India-New Zealand Test series may not have much influence on the ICC Test Rankings but the series is very important for both the sides at a different level. Both teams are coming on the back of some embarrassing losses in Test matches and will be hoping to put a much improved performance.

India lost eight straight matches and will be relieved to be back in their home land, playing against the eighth ranked Kiwis.

New Zealand too will be looking to make some progress from the way they played in West Indies. Their task will not be easy as India is super strong on their home soil and it will be an achievement for the Black Caps if they can stop India from winning both matches.

The biggest talk in Indian cricket is how the way youngsters will take over from the greats of the game, Rahul Dravid--VVS Laxman. All eyes will be on those two youngsters who will replace the icons and people are putting tremendous pressure on them. But one thing that almost everyone is forgetting is that there are some seasoned players in the camp who will also be under pressure because of their past performances.
It was not that only the senior players flopped in the eight losses. There are other players who under-performed and were equally responsible for India’s debacle. Let’s have a look at some of the seasoned players for whom the series is very important.

Virender Sehwag: Sehwag is now one of the senior most players in the Indian team and he has to start playing like one. It is true that Sehwag’s flamboyance is what has made him one of the most successful openers of recent time, but in the recent past his approach has looked far too casual. He plays far too many bad shots and it looks that he can get out on any ball. Sehwag in England played two matches and scored 41 runs in four innings. In Australia Sehwag could only manage to score at an average of 24.75. The stats show that he has been missing out on quite a few occasion.      

Sachin Tendulkar: Sachin needs some big runs and he will know it better than anyone else. He looked in good touch in both England and in Australia, but somehow failed to have a big score. It was quite disappointing to see Sachin going through two series without a hundred to his mane. In England he scored at an average of 34.12. A lot was expected from him in Australia because it has always been his happy hunting ground but there as well he could score at an average of only 35.87.

Gautam Gambhir: Gambhir takes pride in whatever he does and he will be the first one to admit that he let himself down in the past few Test matches. The worrying factor about Gambhir’s batting in Test matches was the way he was getting out. He kept fiddling with the ball outside off-stump. Gambhir will have to quickly change his habit and he will be raring to have a go at the Kiwis. Gambhir scored at an average of 17 in England and 22.62 in Australia.

MS Dhoni: Apart from his captaincy in Test matches, his batting will also be under the scanner in the New Zealand series. Dhoni is a very important batsman for India and he has the habit of scoring important runs. But in the past two series he was not at his best, he played some horrible shots to get out. He scored at an average of 31 in England and 20 in Australia.

By Gaurav Jha

Indian Sports News