nzherald.co.nz has live scoring of the first one-dayer between the Black Caps and India from 2pm today.
India's clutch of batting plunderers should light up the ODI series against New Zealand, but most eyes will be on the oldest player in the tour party when he makes his entrance at McLean Park today.
Sachin Tendulkar is on his seventh and, almost certainly, final tour of New Zealand
and while his very best years may be behind him, he retains the wattage to put even the most exhilarating of India's batting stars in the shade.
He was missing from the two Twenty20 matches last week and denied a hit in the Masters match in Wellington on Friday by the grubby politics of his own board, but steps out today to add lustre to a batting squadron already armed with a plethora of heavy hitters.
He is 35 but consider these juicy numbers: 422 ODIs, 16,440 runs at 43.95, 42 hundreds and a whopping 90 fifties.
Before his death, Sir Donald Bradman opined that Tendulkar, more than any other batsman he'd seen, reminded him of himself - which is not a bad line to put in the CV.
In ODI terms, it all began modestly enough in 1989 when he was 16 with ducks in his first two games, against Pakistan and New Zealand, in Dunedin. Big shot? Pull the other one, the naysayers must have muttered.
Yesterday, as he had a spot of lunch in sunny downtown Napier, Tendulkar looked the epitome of a relaxed man. No autograph hunters, no camera pests, no weight on his shoulders. A far cry from his everyday life in Mumbai.
He'll either open or bat No 3 today, depending on whether India decide to keep their test pair, Virendar Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir together.
"As soon as you put him in the side it certainly makes a difference," New Zealand captain Dan Vettori said yesterday, his tendency towards understatement in full working order.
Vettori hinted some of the younger New Zealand players might have to resist the urge to reach for their autograph books today. Tim Southee was a month short of his first birthday when Tendulkar played his first international in November, 1989; Martin Guptill had just turned 3.
"For some, he could almost have been their favourite player when they were growing up," Vettori said.
"Guys all have their own stories of sitting round watching Sachin play, but it's like when you go to Australia, you quickly go past your boyhood heroes and realise it's an international game."
New Zealand will have plans for the Indian batsmen, of whom Sehwag, Gambhir, Tendulkar, captain MS Dhoni and lefthander Yuvraj Singh in particular offer a multitude of threats.
But Vettori just wants his bowlers to do their job. Then, come what may, he'll accept it.
"If you miss slightly against these guys you're going to get hurt," he said. "My big thing is I just want to see the bowlers put it in the right spots. If it gets hit for six, then I can live with that. I'm just asking the bowlers to be as consistent as possible."
The McLean Park pitch is looking in its usual outstanding order. A par score is about 280 to 300, and both teams will recognise that chasing 300 is well within reach with smart, positive batting.
Tendulkar's return is partially offset by the absence of young pace ace Ishant Sharma, out with a sore right shoulder. His place will go to either handy swing bowler Praveen Kumar or Munaf Patel.
New Zealand will omit one of their fast-medium quartet - either Ian Butler or Southee - from their 12, with Vettori confirming allrounder Jacob Oram is expected to return to the bowling crease for a few overs today as he works back from his calf strain which has plagued him in the last month.
Five ODIs lie ahead before the tests start. It should be a cracking fortnight.
