Entertainment won't be lacking at the Basin Reserve in Wellington over the next five days - that's the view of New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming as he takes on India in the first of two National Bank Series Tests.

Fleming said the pitch for the match is one of the hardest he has seen at the ground.

"There is great grass cover.

"I was fortunate enough to play on it a week ago and it had good bounce and I think that it will be great. It will provide some entertainment," he said.

Whether New Zealand's batsmen would be key contributors to the entertainment factor was not quite so certain.

Fleming said it was a fine line between being entertaining and taking undue risks.

"If we get the opportunity we'd like to because scoring is one way of putting pressure back on the bowlers.

"It does really depend on what you're delivered. On these types of wickets, if it does nip around too much, one may have your name on it," he said.

It also came down to the individual approach of players.

"We've got different styles of players all the way through our innings. Some are instinctively attacking, others are more circumspect.

"All I'm saying to our guys is look what's best for you in the current situation, then just trust it," he said.

While a lot had quite rightly been made of the wicket, it all still came down to basic technique.

"We haven't got a secret technique of playing a green seaming wicket that is going to help us. Nothing can really help you if it nips around quite a bit.

"I guess it just comes down to your basic technique and in their [India's] batting order there are some of the finest techniques in the game so they should be able to adjust and they should be able to adapt," he said.

If there was an advantage to the home side it was in their knowledge of the conditions.

Fleming said he was happy with his attack because the bowlers concerned were thinking players who had been thinking for quite a while about the task in front of them in this series.

It was tough on bowlers when a green wicket was laid on, because everyone's expectations were that they should be able to move the ball around.

It was like the pressure that goes on a batsman to score heavily when he is confronted with a flat pitch.

"There's a certain amount of nervousness about having to perform, and needing to perform. Sometimes that can lead to over-effort and a bad bowling performance. We've talked about that and looked at that already," he said.

"We just need to go about our business and even forget about the fact that it might be a big green seamer. We just have to be workmanlike."

Indian coach John Wright had given New Zealand's solitary spinner Daniel Vettori something to work on when claiming there was only one world-class spinner in the match, Harbhajan Singh because Vettori's average was a little high to suggest he was in world-class.

"So he's got a point to prove here," Fleming said.

Wright was a significant advantage for India going into the game, as Fleming acknowledged.

"Not only has he been successful with them, but he has very good knowledge of how New Zealand wickets traditionally play."

Finally, there is the underlying knowledge that after the recent upheavals in cricket in New Zealand, when first-class players resorted to strike action during contract negotiations, the players will be under even closer scrutiny from the local public.

"It's an important time for a number of reasons for us.

"We're building up a pretty good record at home, like the 1980s, and we want to respond well," he said.

There is every chance circumstances will give New Zealand every opportunity to put their case over the next five days.

Given their lack of cricket, New Zealand face the tougher test, but India have not won a match in New Zealand since 1975/76, they have their own demons to face.

© CricInfo