India will be up against not only a more determined home side but also a miserable record at the ground when they go into the second Test against Zimbabwe starting in Harare on Friday, chasing a rare series win on foreign soil.

India have bitter memories of this ground having lost the one-off Test in 1998. Even in Zimbabwe's inaugural Test in 1992, they had to struggle to earn a draw. On the other hand, three of the five Test wins for the hosts have come on this ground.

But to say that the Indians are on a high after their comprehensive eight-wicket win in the first Test in Bulawayo would be to state the obvious. The visitors have one of the most balanced sides in years and almost all of them are in top form.

The first win outside the sub-continent in 15 years has done wonders for their confidence and, as some of the players said after the win in Bulawayo, they would go all out for a 2-0 series win.

Having said that, the hosts too have prepared well for this Test with captain Heath Streak and coach Carl Rackemann saying they have identified their mistakes in the first Test and have modified their strategy. Zimbabwe was very capable of surprising the Indians, both of them stressed.

The Indians are most likely to include Hemang Badani as an opener as his statemate Sadagoppan Ramesh has not yet recovered from a back injury. Badani, who will make his debut if included, has never opened an innings in his first class career but has impressed with his sound technique.

The left hander made full use of the opportunity given to him in the tour match against CFX Academy when he scored 35 attractive runs as an opener before retiring. On the other hand, Ramesh has struggled on this tour with scores of just 2 and 17 in the Bulawayo Test.

Another Indian who needs to come good with the bat is skipper Sourav Ganguly. After a nightmarish series against Australia back home, Ganguly has so far failed to click on this tour also. Though he has succeeded as a captain, Ganguly knows he needs to get the runs on the board to silence his critics.

With conditions once again favourable to fast bowling, the trio of Javagal Srinath, Zaheer Khan and Ashish Nehra would be expected to come up with a performance similar to that in the first Test.

Ganguly yesterday cleared all doubts regarding Nehra's participation in the match saying the left-arm medium pacer from Delhi will definitely play. Nehra had put in an impressive performance in the first Test claiming five wickets including that of Andy Flower in both the innings. But he was stopped from bowling for the rest of the innings for damaging the pitch in his follow-through.

Zimbabwe, who were handicapped by the absence of Streak and Henry Olonga in the Indian second innings at Bulawayo, would be bolstered by the presence of fast bowler Travis Friend, who missed the first Test due to injury and is all set to make his debut here.

"Friend is fully fit for the game. He looked good in the nets today and is bowling with great pace. He would make it this time," Streak said.

Streak himself is raring to go though he is still to be declared fully fit but Olonga will miss the Test. Streak said his team had carefully studied the mistakes in the first Test and was working hard to rectify them.

"We have realised where we had our downfall and hopefully we will get things right in the Test," he said. "We let Harbhajan Singh get away with a bit more than he should have. Now with a better balanced side, without any injuries, hopefully we won't let that happen again. We lacked patience while batting in our first innings and the guys mistimed their shots. We have to address that in this Test," Streak said.

Both teams expressed satisfaction with the pitch which seems a little more spinner-friendly than the one at Bulawayo though the fast bowlers will continue to enjoy an advantage.

The teams:

India (from): Sourav Ganguly (captain), Shiv Sunder Das, Sadagoppan Ramesh, VVS Laxman, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Hemang Badani, Samir Dighe, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Javagal Srinath, Debashish Mohanty, Ashish Nehra, Sairaj Bahutule and Ajit Agarkar.

Zimbabwe: Heath Streak (captain), Dion Ebrahim, Guy Whittall, Stuart Carlisle, Alistair Campbell, Andy Flower, Grant Flower, Brighton Watambwa, Andy Blignaut, Travis Friend, Brian Murphy, Gavin Rennie (12th man).

Umpires: Ashoka de Silva (Sri Lanka) and Ian Robinson (Zimbabwe).

Match referee: Denis Lindsay (South Africa).

© CricInfo