Indian cricket team in New Zealand in 2008–09
| Indian cricket team in New Zealand in 2009 | |||||
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| Dates | 25 February – 7 April | ||||
| Captains | Daniel Vettori | Mahendra Singh Dhoni | |||
| Test series | |||||
| Result | India won the 3-match series 1–0 | ||||
| Most runs | Jesse Ryder (327) | Gautam Gambhir (445) | |||
| Most wickets | Chris Martin (14) | Harbhajan Singh (16) | |||
| One Day International series | |||||
| Result | India won the 5-match series 3–1 | ||||
| Most runs | Jesse Ryder (162) | Virender Sehwag (259) | |||
| Most wickets | Ian Butler (3) | Harbhajan Singh (5) | |||
| Twenty20 International series | |||||
| Result | New Zealand won the 2-match series 2–0 | ||||
| Most runs | Brendon McCullum (125) | Suresh Raina (61) | |||
| Most wickets | Iain O'Brien (4) | Harbhajan Singh (2) | |||
The Indian cricket team toured New Zealand from 25 February to 7 April 2009, playing a Test match series with New Zealand for the first time in five years. The tour included three Tests, five ODIs and two T20Is. New Zealand won both the T20Is. India won both the ODI series 3-1 and Test series 1-0.
Squads
The Indian Squads were announced on the 13th of February. Dhawal Kulkarni got his maiden call up to the national squad, having been selected for the test squad after a strong debut Ranji trophy season where he was the highest wicket taker. L Balaji made a return to the Test squad after a five-year hiatus having last played in a test in 2004. Balaji was dropped from the ODI squad after he played in a single match in the previous tour, he was replaced by the now fit Munaf Patel. In the test squad Balaji replaced Pragyan Ojha with the selectors opting for an extra seamer instead of an extra spinner for the tour. Ojha retained his place in the ODI and T20 squads. Subramaniam Badrinath was dropped from the test squad in favour of reserve Wicket-Keeper Dinesh Karthik after Karthik too had a strong Ranji trophy season. Karthik was selected for all three squads, replacing Jadeja in the ODI squad. Ravindra Jadeja's impressive ODI debut was rewarded with a call up to the Twenty20 squad but Jadeja will be replaced by Sachin Tendulkar for the subsequent ODI series. Munaf Patel made a return to all three squads after having to pull out midway through the previous tour of Sri Lanka due to injury. Harbhajan Singh also made a return to all three squads after having to pull out at the beginning of the previous tour to Sri Lanka due to injury.[1]
The New Zealand squad for the T20's was announced on the 21st of February. Jacob Oram Jesse Ryder and Ross Taylor returned after their injury. Oram however will only play as a batsman. Kyle Mills was injured and was replaced by Ewen Thompson. Ryder replaced Peter Fulton[2]
Test
| Test squads | |
|---|---|
 India |
 New Zealand |
| MS Dhoni (c)&(wk) | Daniel Vettori - Captain |
| Virender Sehwag - Vice Captain | Neil Broom |
| Amit Mishra | Ian Butler |
| Dhawal Kulkarni | Grant Elliott |
| Dinesh Karthik (wk) | Brendon McCullum - Wicketkeeper |
| Gautam Gambhir | Martin Guptill |
| Harbhajan Singh | Nathan McCullum |
| Ishant Sharma | Iain O'Brien |
| Lakshmipathy Balaji | Jacob Oram |
| Murali Vijay | Jesse Ryder |
| Rahul Dravid | Tim Southee |
| Sachin Tendulkar | Ewen Thompson |
| VVS Laxman | Ross Taylor |
| Yuvraj Singh | |
| Zaheer Khan | |
| Munaf Patel | |
Indian Squad for ODI
- MS Dhoni - Captain/Wicket Keeper
- Virender Sehwag - Vice Captain
- Dinesh Karthik - Wicket Keeper
- Gautam Gambhir
- Harbhajan Singh
- Irfan Pathan
- Ishant Sharma
- Munaf Patel
- Pragyan Ojha
- Praveen Kumar
- Rohit Sharma
- Sachin Tendulkar
- Suresh Raina
- Yusuf Pathan
- Yuvraj Singh
- Zaheer Khan
Indian Squad for Twenty20
- MS Dhoni - Captain/Wicket Keeper
- Virender Sehwag - Vice Captain
- Dinesh Karthik - Wicket Keeper
- Gautam Gambhir
- Harbhajan Singh
- Irfan Pathan
- Ishant Sharma
- Munaf Patel
- Ravindra Jadeja
- Rohit Sharma
- Pragyan Ojha
- Praveen Kumar
- Suresh Raina
- Yusuf Pathan
- Yuvraj Singh
- Zaheer Khan
New Zealand Squad for Twenty20
- Daniel Vettori - Captain
- Neil Broom
- Ian Butler
- Grant Elliott
- Martin Guptill
- Brendon McCullum - Wicketkeeper
- Nathan McCullum
- Iain O'Brien
- Jacob Oram
- Jesse Ryder
- Tim Southee
- Ross Taylor
- Ewen Thompson
Grounds
- AMI Stadium, Christchurch - Cap 36,500
- Basin Reserve, Wellington - Cap 11,600
- Eden Park, Auckland - Cap 50,000
- McLean Park, Napier - Cap 16,500
- Seddon Park, Hamilton - Cap 10,000
- Westpac Stadium, Wellington - Cap 33,500
Twenty20 Series
1st Twenty20
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25 February
Scorecard |
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2nd Twenty20
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27 February
Scorecard |
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ODI series
1st ODI
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3 March
Scorecard |
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- Rain during India's innings reduced match to 38 overs a side. Rain during New Zealand's innings reduced New Zealand's innings to 28 overs
2nd ODI
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6 March
Scorecard |
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- Rain initially reduced each innings to 34 overs, subsequent rain stopped play after 28.4 overs of the Indian innings
3rd ODI
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8 March
Scorecard |
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- India's 392/4 is the highest score for any team in New Zealand.
- Sachin Tendulkar scores his first ODI century in New Zealand.
- 31 sixes were hit in the match, which is a new record.
- India hit 18 sixes in their innings which equals the world record, also held by them.
- Tim Southee is only the third bowler to concede more than 100 runs in an innings in ODIs.''
4th ODI
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11 March
Scorecard |
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Virender Sehwag 125* (74)
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- Virender Sehwag took 60 deliveries to reach his century. This is the second fastest ODI century by an Indian.
5th ODI
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14 March
Scorecard |
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Test series
1st Test
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18 March - 22 March
Scorecard |
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39/0 (5.2 overs)
Gautam Gambhir 30* (18) |
2nd Test
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26 March - 30 March
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3rd Test
Both sides came under criticism for their defensive approach in the final Test — New Zealand for failing to set aside its headaches about the gifts of Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma and groom a traditionally seam-friendly wicket, and India for not ramming home its advantage over the course of the final two days. "A 2-0 victory would have been a more correct index of the difference between the teams," wrote Indian journalist Suresh Menon,[3] bemoaning Dhoni's lack of urgency first in batting on too long in the second innings and then in leading a signally listless and complacent display in the field. The Indian skipper's answer to the first charge was that "a huge score meant that we could keep attacking all the time."[4] As Menon observed, however,
strangely, he didn't attack all the time. He didn't tell Harbhajan Singh that the bowler should stop sending down his express deliveries but flight the ball. Post-tea on the fourth day, the whole team appeared over-relaxed and almost casual, as if winning would be just a matter of turning up on the fifth day.
A 2-0 victory would have been a more correct index of the difference between the teams. India appeared only too satisfied with a 1-0 win. This is not how champion teams play, and if India aspire to knock Australia off the perch at the top, they will have to be more ruthless in their approach, more focused, and not so easily satisfied.[3]
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3 April - 7 April
Scorecard |
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References
- Menon, Suresh. "A bird in hand, Dhoni leaves the second in the bush." Dreamcricket, 8 April 2009.
Notes
- ↑ Dhawal Kulkarni receives maiden call-up,
- ↑ Oram, Taylor return but concerns grow over Mills,
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Menon 2009.
- ↑ Quoted in Menon 2009.
