Top 6, time to stamp your class!

New Zealand have added young pace bowler Tim Southee to their squad for the third Test against India starting here on Friday.

"Tim's inclusion gives us additional options with the new ball, and strengthens the attack against this strong Indian batting lineup," selection panel head Glenn Turner said Tuesday.

With the exception of the first innings of the drawn second Test, New Zealand's attack has struggled to contain the star-studded Indian batting lineup.

India hold a 1-0 lead going into the final Test of the series. But, but….the basin reserve will be different, very different. If one of the challenges of Test cricket is playing in various conditions, then any team aspiring to be the best team in the world should visit the Basin Reserve in the first week of April. Located beneath Mount Victoria and Mount Cook in windy Wellington, the Basin Reserve is totally uncovered. Most of the seating is in the grass banks, and the few stands that exist are not high at all. With winter approaching and the Southerlies blowing with gusto, the players will definitely feel the need to protect against the cold. 

The Indians arrived in Wellington with a 1-0 lead in the series and, when they reached the Basin Reserve two days before the Test, the skies were overcast, the temperature was about 10 degrees Celsius, and winds were blowing around 30kmph. That's one-third of the speed of a Harbhajan Singh quicker one and about 23% of the normal pace of the fast bowlers. If every kiwi quick bowler will be bowling 23% quicker how will the famed Indian batting line up cope?

This is when the experience of Dravid, Tendukar & Laxman, the grit of Gautam Ghambir & the sheer dominating class of Shewag & Yuvraj will come to the fore. The top 6 will have to fire & fire big time…no doubt about it. Sachin Tendulkar once said that it is different playing in New Zealand. The ball comes quick with the wind in the Basin Reserve and from the other end, it’s slower! As a batsman one has to adjust accordingly! Adjust he will have to, but being the senior most pro in the side he will have to pass on all his knowledge & experience to the other batters in the side as well. The Indian batting line up faces its biggest threat so far. On the other side of this threat is the dangling carrot! A series win in New Zealand. Even the illustrious Sachin Tendulkar has not tasted success like this before! Like Dhoni says it will be a fitting gift from the team for him & Dravid! Before that time however, the basin reserve stands in between of it all….Without doubt it is the best cricket ground in New Zealand, and is protected by an Act of Parliament. It is fitting it should present a visiting team with the toughest test of the tour.  

Inputs from: cricinfo