John Wright, India's coach, has expressed his hope that the pitches for the one-day series against New Zealand are not as heavily skewed against the batsmen as they were in the Test series. "I just hope we have very good batting wickets for the one-dayers," he said. "I think it is very important for both the sides heading into the World Cup. We want to go there with batsmen in form and I imagine our opposition also wants the same.

"Our preparations for the World Cup will depend on how batsmen-friendly pitches are in this series," Wright continued. "You should be able to put up big scores and I think New Zealand will also be thinking along the same lines."

India were thrashed 2-0 in the Test series on bowler-friendly green tops on which their batsmen couldn't reach 200 in any of their four innings. India made 161, 121, 99 and 154 as only two batsmen, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar, made half-centuries. Wright wasn't too worried by that though.

"You haven't seen the best of our batsmen," he said. "Their style and attacking brand of cricket have yet to be seen on the tour. I hope the New Zealand public gets the opportunity to see that in the seven one-dayers."

Meanwhile, the local media was stringent in its criticism of the pitches prepared for the Test, especially the one for the second Test at the Westpac Park in Hamilton. The New Zealand Herald said: "It was not so much a Test match as a low-grade farce, starring an Indian side who had effectively been nobbled by New Zealand's desire to play on wickets that would not so much advantage themsleves, but disadvantage the opposition.

"The lasting impression from this Test series," it continued, "will be the substandard pitches that India were forced to bat on and the subsequent drop-off in the quality of cricket."

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