UNSTOPPABLE FORCE FACES MOVABLE OBJECT

With an eye on WTC final, India chase 19th straight series win at home

- SWAROOP SWAMINATHAN @Bengaluru

AN early autumn morning in this part of the country is easy to predict. Once the southeast monsoon starts to withdraw, the days begin to shorten rapidly and the Sun starts to play hide and seek. With an active disturbance in the Bay of Bengal, Bengaluru's overcast skies and damp underneath conditions wouldn't have been out of place in New Zealand. That, however, will be of scant relief to the visitors whose upcoming assignment — win a series in India — is the hardest in the game today. Think about it as an extreme adventure sport; like a mountaineer going up Mount Everest from base camp with a faulty oxygen cylinder.

That's even before you consider the Black Caps' record in India. Two wins in 36 Tests, with the last win coming in the winter of 1988. Out of the 15 players in their squad, only one, Ajaz Patel, was even born when Richard Hadlee and John Bracewell bowled them to a famous win at the Wankhede.