India is going to play against New Zealand on 11 September (Friday) in their first match of the ongoing Compaq Cup 2009 tri-nation tournament in Sri Lanka. For New Zealand, however, this is the second match as they already faced host Sri Lanka in the first match of the tournament where they suffered a 97-run defeat. So, New Zealand knows it very well that they have to win against India in order to keep their hopes of playing in the tournament final alive. India knows that a defeat against New Zealand would not mean they are out of the tournament, but still they will look for a good start in the tournament.
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Match: India vs New Zealand; Compaq Cup 2009
Date: 11 September 2009
Venue: R.Premadasa Stadium, Khettarama, Colombo
Time: Local: 14:30; GMT: 09:00
Live TV: Ten Sports
Compaq Cup is somewhat a preparatory tournament for the participating teams ahead of ICC Champions Trophy 2009, starting from 22 September. Naturally, all the teams would like to work out their problems in this tournament so that they can go into the champions trophy full of confidence.
Indian players arrived Sri Lanka after participating in BBCI Corporate League where some of the Indian players showed good form including Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. India did not do very well in Twenty20 world cup and now they would like to bring out some good results for the Indian fans. Indian coach Garry Kirsten has recently said that India wants to become no. 1 in ODI cricket very soon and he is confident that his team has enough depth.
Samaylive reported:
"We know that if we continue with as hard as we do in terms of our training and how we set our sights for games, we have the best chances of reaching there. We continue with that quest to be the best in the world."
"We have tremendous depth in our team. Some of the younger players have proven their worth that they are capable of cementing their places in the team. That is the Indian cricket at the moment. We will continue with that and wherever possible we need to give opportunity to them to play. It is important to give them as much exposure as possible especially leading in to World Cup. We will continue to do that, but obviously most important thing is that we need to win more games," he observed.
New Zealand did not have a very good start in the tournament. Though their pacers had some success, New Zealand batsmen totally failed in the first game. Kiwi top order fared poorly and it was clear that New Zealand batsmen were struggling against Sri Lankan pacers. They should know that Champions Trophy is going to take place in South Africa where pacers traditionally get favorable condition and South African wickets helps the fast bowlers. So, New Zealand has a number of reasons to worry for their batting form. Nathan McCullum was given another chance, but the off spinner failed to capitalize on the opportunity against Sri Lanka.
India is missing hard-hitter opener Virender Sehwag and experienced pace Zaheer Khan due to their respective injuries. No doubt, the absence of the two important players is a setback for India, but it is true that India has a number of quality replacements in the squad. For the opening slot, India has Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir and Dinesh Karthik, while in the pace department they have Ishant Sharma, Nehra, RP Singh and young Abhishek Nayar. The spin department is spearheaded by Harbhajan Singh and there is leg spinner Amit Mishra.
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India seems to be favorite, but it is cricket where everything is possible and uncertainty is part of the game. So, I hope cricket fans would enjoy the match.
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