KEY POINTS:
There are early signs that the Indians will struggle in our conditions.
But that's not to say that they all will.
Two of the greats, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, are here, and they will be expected to make runs the way they almost always do.
I don't
actually remember much about playing against the great man Tendulkar.
He's not that sort of player. I certainly remember innings played by other Indian batsmen, such as Virender Sehwag and V V S Laxman. A couple of Sehwag's would be very hard to forget.
What I do recall about Tendulkar is how consistent he was, the number of 100s he got, and that he was always difficult to get out.
But as for the innings themselves, not a lot. That's because he doesn't really punish you the way some of the others do.
Our main tactic was to try and bore Tendulkar out, keep him off strike, disrupt his momentum, contain him as much as we could. We were only moderately successful, and the same goes for Dravid, a similar type of runmaker.
Tendulkar's average is much the same here as it is anywhere else, even if he wasn't perhaps as fluid in his strokemaking here as he was at home or somewhere like Australia, where conditions are more to his liking.
Greats like Tendulkar and Dravid know how to adapt. They will make runs anywhere. It is unrealistic to expect to dominate them.
The idea is to operate as a team, to isolate the great players so as to put the pressure on the others.
Still, I think our bowlers have certain advantages, because the conditions are so foreign to the Indians.
And whereas India has had a bit of success in, say Australia, recently, the way we take the pace off the ball and our ability to exploit our two-paced wickets should still trouble them.
Judging by the opening Twenty20 game, the Indians look as though they will take time to adapt.
It is amazing how much the conditions can make a difference in cricket.
Touring India probably asked the greatest questions of New Zealand teams in terms of adapting to unfamiliar conditions. Living in a different culture isn't a problem, it's dealing with a different climate that is tricky.
As a New Zealand player, you never really get used to playing in 35C. By the time you are close to adjusting you are on the plane home. And the reverse seems to betrue for the Indians, playing in our colder conditions.
India are the world Twenty20 champions and really emphasise that form of the game, and they probably went into the opener fully expecting to win.
Yet, the Black Caps never looked like losing. The lack of structure in the Indian batting told the story.
They may have made some moves forward in the second Twenty20 match last night.
But the conditions will be a leveller. If you look at the history of the two batting lineups, they are on different planets. By right, the Indians should cream us. But it won't work out that way.
