India to name ODI, T20 squad today
India's batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar on Thursday said it would be a challenge for the inexperienced Indian side to cope with the conditions during the upcoming tour of New Zealand.
"We have a fairly new team and the challenge is definitely there," he told reporters here. "Playing in New Zealand, where the conditions are going to be tough, is a completely different experience."
The Indians are set to leave for New Zealand on February 20 to play three Tests, five one-day internationals and two Twenty20 matches.
Tendulkar, 35, has toured the country on six previous occasions but it will be a first for most of the other members of the squad, led by the young Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
The Indian squad for the one-dayers and Twenty20 internationals will be named on Friday.
"In places like Wellington, from one end a bowler comes at 135kph with the breeze behind him, and then suddenly you are facing someone else who is very slow and there is no wind," Tendulkar said.
"With the wind behind the bowler it affects the batsman as he can't keep his eyes open for long. So it becomes tough as one needs to change the bat swing, balance and the rest of the things.
"It is going to be a learning experience for the first-timers. But we have a good balance of experience and youth and the seniors and coaches will guide the newcomers."
India were beaten 2-0 in the Tests and 5-2 in the one-day series when they last toured New Zealand in 2002-03.
Tendulkar, who opted out of the inaugural World Twenty20 Championship in South Africa in 2007 which India went on to win, also said he will not be turning out for the Twenty20 matches in New Zealand.
"It was a conscious decision not to play then [in 2007]. I do not want to disturb the present winning combination. The team is doing well and I do not want to be part of the Twenty20 set-up."
Tendulkar is the world's leading batsman with 12,429 runs in Tests and 16,440 in one-dayers.
He has played in only one Twenty20 international -- against South Africa -- in 2006.
Meanwhile PTI adds from Chennai, off-spinner Harbhajan Singh and pacer Munaf Patel are set to return for the New Zealand tour when the selectors meet in Chennai today to pick the ODI and T20 squad.
The national selectors are likely to retain most of the players who played in the just-concluded one-day series against Sri Lanka. The Indians won the series by an emphatic 4-1 margin and most of the players chipped in with useful contributions.
The squad for the Test series which starts in Hamilton from March 18 will be picked later.
Harbhajan, who did not tour Sri Lanka due to a hamstring injury, and Munaf, who injured himself after playing the first ODI in Dambulla, are certain to make it to the ODI squad.
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