Hyderabad: A reality check awaits the Indian cricket team as it gears up to begin life without the famed batting duo of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman when they take on a lowly New Zealand in the first Test of the two-match series here on Thursday.
Sachin Tendulkar is the only player left of the brigade that also included Sourav Ganguly, Anil Kumble, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman.
Now the challenge for India is to overcome the transition phase in the upcoming home season, in which the team will play 10 Tests, 13 ODIs and three T20 Internationals, apart from the ICC World T20 in Sri Lanka in September.
India’s young brigade will be keen to overcome this tough phase with the help of Tendulkar’s experience.
Moreover, the Indian team is returning to Test action after seven months, which was preceded by two disastrous Test series in England and Australia.
The aftermath of the debacle was even more disturbing as Dravid and Laxman, the two important pillars of Indian cricket, retired ahead of the start of the new season.
Dhoni not invited to Laxman party
Dhoni added more fuel to the intense speculation about his strained relationship with Laxman on Wednesday, saying he was not invited for a party thrown by the retired cricketer.
Laxman, who retired from the game in surprising fashion, threw a party on Tuesday for Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Zaheer Khan at his residence in the suburbs of the city.
When Dhoni was asked at the pre-match press conference if he was invited by Laxman, he replied in a clear “No”. The skipper also chose to pay little attention to the fact that Laxman could not get through to him to inform him about his retirement plans.
“You think it’s a controversy but people who know me always complained that I’m someone who is quite difficult to get hold of. That was one of the reasons why Laxmanbhai could not get hold of me,” Dhoni said.
Focusing on the cricket, Dhoni said that his side would look for a fresh start in the new season by winning the two-match series against New Zealand.
“Yes, we had a disappointing eight last Test matches (abroad), but if you look at the positive side of it, there is only one way and that’s going up,” Dhoni told reporters at the press conference.
“We’re expected to win the series and if you talk about starting well it means winning the series which means looking ahead for the next 15 days. For us, it will be to start the Test match on a positive note,” he said.
For his part, New Zealand skipper Ross Taylor said in a separate press conference that the Kiwis will go all out for a morale-boosting win.
Taylor said that they would exploit the absence of Dravid and Laxman, which in a way could make the Indian middle order fragile.
“We realise that India has excellent bench strength in it ranks and could be formidable. But we are here to win and that is what we endeavour to achieve in Hyderabad.
“This is in spite of the absence of Daniel Vettori, who could have been deadly on the slow Indian pitches,” said Taylor. (Agencies)