When a nation of three million rugby-lovers meets one of a billion cricket fanatics, you worry that things will be as one-sided as the Ashes. ButIndia's record here remains in the red (four Test wins, five defeats, seven draws) and New Zealand know how to make life difficult for sides who look better on paper.

The stereotypes may clash - honest medium-pacers and solid grafters versus mystery spinners and wristy strokemakers - but New Zealand and India have plenty in common.

Both sides are upwardly mobile (New Zealand are an improbable third in the ICC championship; India a series win away from fifth). Both have gutsy, thoughtful captains who command respect. And both are responsible for the two most recent shock results against Australia.

It's a shame that the need to squeeze in seven one-day internationals ahead of the World Cup has limited this Test series to the bare minimum of two games.

The talk has been of India concentrating on the one-dayers, but Sourav Ganguly remains prickly about the subject of India's away form (no series victories outside the subcontinent since 1986), and a win and a draw is not beyond his glittering batting line-up.

First, though, they have to deal with the raw pace of Shane Bond and the bustling outswing of Daryl Tuffey - more of a threat than the Central Districts seam attack of Mike Mason, Lance Hamilton and Andrew Schwass, who last week skittled India for 209 at Napier and exposed old failings against the short ball.

The Basin Reserve pitch is tinged with green at the moment after a weekend of steady rain plus the odd sheet-lightning thunderstorm, but batting is expected to get easier and the New Zealand coach, Denis Aberhart, reckons it could turn into the best Wellington wickets for years.

Even so, if India bat first, they must apply the lessons they learned on greentops at Headingley and Trent Bridge.

India are set to start with an attack of Zaheer Khan (fit again after picking up a knee injury in the Super Max tour opener at Christchurch), Ashish Nehra (who keeps his place ahead of Tinu Yohannan despite what Ganguly called a "disappointing" display at Napier), Ajit Agarkar and Harbhajan Singh, with Sanjay Bangar providing NZ-style dobbers as back-up. The batsmen pick themselves.

New Zealand are likely to leave out Mason from the starting line-up, who may have been as surprised to read in the local press of comparisons with Glenn McGrath as he was to have been selected in the first place.

That means Bond and Tuffey will receive seam support from Jacob Oram, Scott Styris and Nathan Astle, while the spin comes from Daniel Vettori, still the best slow left-armer in the world.

Apart from seeing off Zaheer, picking Harbhajan's arm-ball and keeping Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman quiet, New Zealand face a battle from within. The players' strike, which lasted six weeks and threatened to rob the selectors of the country's 128 professionals, has left everyone short of practice, fitness, runs and wickets. The case of Stephen Fleming, who made a pair for Wellington in the State Championship over the weekend, is typical.

The Chairman of selectors, Richard Hadlee, is a worried man, and if India can find the form they showed on the second half of their trip to England, they are more than capable of building on a recent record against New Zealand that reads only one Test defeat since 1989-90.

Now they just need the weather to hold. The forecast is reasonable and the new covers at the Basin Reserve inspire more confidence than the rags which turned England's game here in March into a rain-ruined draw. New Zealand have won 10 Tests here - more than at any other ground - but India are marginal favourites to weather the storm.

Teams

New Zealand 1 Mark Richardson, 2 Lou Vincent, 3 Stephen Fleming (capt), 4 Craig McMillan, 5 Nathan Astle, 6 Scott Styris, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Robbie Hart (wk), 9 Daniel Vettori, 10 Daryl Tuffey, 11 Shane Bond.

India 1 Sanjay Bangar, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Parthiv Patel (wk), 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Ashish Nehra, 11 Zaheer Khan.

© Wisden CricInfo Ltd