Sachin Tendulkar and Sourav Ganguly obviously aren’t too concerned about video footage of their batting techniques getting into the hands of international opposition.
New Zealand is sending its coach and a video analyst to Madras this week to film and analyse Tendulkar’s Bombay 11 against Ganguly’s Rest of India line-up in a trial match ahead of next month’s Test cricket series between the two nations.
The Indian cricket board has reportedly played the perfect host, stopping just short of setting up the camera equipment for its rivals.
New Zealand coach Ashley Ross will leave for India on Wednesday, a day before the five-day Irani Cup match starts.
Ross said there was nothing covert about his trip.
”They know we’re coming, they’ve allocated us a welcoming party and transport. They’ve been more than gracious,” Ross told the New Zealand Press Association on Tuesday.
”But I do feel a bit like James Bond, the spy that everybody knows.”
The New Zealanders did a similar reconnoitre during a tour match in Napier, New Zealand last year to analyse the India batsmen before the two-test series.
New Zealand won the series 2-0 on difficult seaming pitches.
Ross is expecting entirely different conditions in India.
”We’re uncertain about the exact nature of what we might face there,” he said.
The New Zealand squad leaves on Sunday for India. The tour will include the Test series and a tri-nation limited-overs series also involving world champion Australia and India, the losing finalist at the last World Cup. — Sapa-AP