India's cricket team arrived in Harare on Friday afternoon confident of winning only their third Test series away from home after 1971. The squad of 15 players arrived at the new Harare International Airport at midday suffering from fatigue after a tiresome journey which began on Thursday.

The two-match Test series will be the two sides' first matches in the new ICC Test Championship which was kick-started by the England-Pakistan series last week.

India have averaged one away series win a decade, having beaten England 2-0 in 1986 and Sri Lanka 1-0 in 1993. They have played two one-off Tests in Zimbabwe and drew the first, Zimbabwe's inaugural, in October 1992. The second match was in October 1998 and Zimbabwe won at the Harare Sports Club by 61 runs.

India captain Sourav Ganguly said that they were confident of winning the series, which will help them leapfrog into a tie for the fourth position with Sri Lanka in the ICCTC.

"We have played well in the past six to seven months and obviously we are here to win. We have a much stronger side than the ones which struggled in away tours in the past," he said. "We have prepared well for this tour, we had a good camp and have a good side. Everyone has worked hard to get into this side."

Ganguly said that their recent 2-1 series win, coming from behind, over the unofficial world champions Australia would not make them over-confident against a lowly rated Zimbabwe. "No, we take each series as it comes and each team as it comes. We don't get carried away by past successes," he said.

On the conditions expected in Zimbabwe, Ganguly said they would not be affected as they have played here before. "I don't think we will have any problems with the conditions in Zimbabwe because we have been here before," he said.

While the wickets in India are spin-friendly, Zimbabwean wickets favour seamers and pace bowlers.

Team manager Chetan Chauhan, a former Indian opening batsman, was also confident that they would end their dismal performance away from home. "We would want to win the series. It's going to be a tough and interesting series. We are not going to underestimate Zimbabwe because at home they are a good side," he said.

"Ours is also a very good, balanced side and it's a young side which is full of confidence after beating Australia last month. Australia is undoubtedly the best cricketing country in the world."

Chauhan said that the Indians still have respect for Zimbabwe despite boasting of three of the world's top ten Test batsman. Sachin Tendulkar is the world's number one, Rahul Dravid is number four while VVS Laxman is number nine. Zimbabwe only have Andy Flower in the top ten. Flower is currently ranked number three.

"That won't have any bearing on the outcome of the series because as I said, we are not underestimating Zimbabwe. The last time we came here we lost 1-0. We will work very hard and the boys are confident of winning the series as a team," Chauhan said.

Although he did not want to single out potential series winners, Chauhan could not resist the temptation of mentioning Tendulkar. "We will play as a team but of course we have Tendulkar who is the best in the world. He will be supported by three or four other good batsmen. We also have a good bowling attack and as I said, it's a well-balanced side. But Sachin Tendulkar, of course and Dravid and Laxman are the players who can change the game any time," he said.

Chauhan also has admiration for a couple of Zimbabweans. "Well, the Flower brothers are there and in particular Andy Flower. He batted brilliantly in the last series in India last year, averaging over 200. So he is a very good batsman."

Chauhan also expressed his feelings on the conditions in Zimbabwe. "I don't think we will have any problems with the conditions in Zimbabwe. We will play two warm-up matches before the Test series. I am sure the boys will get used to the Zimbabwean wickets before the Tests," he said.

Chauhan added, "The players in the Indian side are experienced players. They are professionals and they have played all over the world. I'm sure they will adjust to the conditions in Zimbabwe and the sooner they do that, the better it will be.

"Before coming here we had a camp in Bangalore and the kind of wicket we had there is, to a certain extent, similar to the wickets in Zimbabwe. It favoured seamers and fast bowlers. We have taken enough precautions about it and we have practised well. We are, I would say, prepared for the conditions in Zimbabwe."

Chauhan said they were worried with India's seventh position in the ICC Test championship table. "They have gone by the recent performances and, unfortunately, last season we did not play many series in India and that's the reason we have been relegated to seventh. We are concerned about it, but I'm sure we will soon climb the ladder," he concluded.

© CricInfo