Cricket: Indian 'student tourists' giving all the lessons

Jeetan Patel returns to the Black Caps after missing the first test. Photo / Getty Images

At an early point on India's tour, their captain M.S. Dhoni suggested many of his players were embarking on a "learning lab" experience around New Zealand. That was before India walloped New Zealand 3-1 in the ODI series then took a giant step towards winning the test series last week.

It has been the tourists scribbling on the whiteboards and New Zealand who should be making notes and absorbing lessons as they try to get back into the test series after being done over by 10 wickets in Hamilton.

As wicket keeper Brendon McCullum put it yesterday, the classroom is right before their eyes every time New Zealand are in the field.

"You couldn't even begin to compare the status of our players to theirs," McCullum said yesterday.

"I guess [batting stars] [Sachin] Tendulkar, [Rahul] Dravid and [V.V.S.] Laxman have been in every situation you can be as a batsman. We're going out there trying to learn situations as they unfold.

"It can be tough but we've also got the blueprint to follow when we're out there. It's staring us in the face every time they bat."

The national selectors yesterday opted to keep the faith with those who under-performed significantly in Hamilton when they named their 12 for the second test, starting at McLean Park in Napier on Thursday.

Uncapped medium pacer Brent Arnel was counted out by injury and fast-medium Iain O'Brien and batsman Daniel Flynn will be monitored in the next two days as they get over a side strain and bruised hand respectively.

In a sense the selectors, Glenn Turner, Dion Nash and John Wright, as well as showing a vote of support for the players to whom they gave first dibs at Hamilton, may also have been offering another thought in code: that they believe there's no one around who will greatly improve the situation.

Experienced allrounder Jacob Oram admitted he needs more match play so was not in the mix for Napier.

Yet McCullum, very much from the glass-half-full school of thinking, is backing his teammates to pick themselves up this week.

"If we can maintain a little bit of faith in the guys we've got here, I think we've got an incredible skill base within a pretty young side," he said.

"There are areas we can improve on. If India are not quite at their best it gives us a way that we can hopefully steal a march on them."

That may be wishful thinking, as India haven't noticeably been caught unawares often on this tour. Their confidence is sky-high and they will take some pegging back.

Those most aware that they might not be required in Wellington next week without a large improvement are allrounder James Franklin, and new ball man Kyle Mills. Neither did the job they were asked to. Batsmen Tim McIntosh and Ross Taylor also need runs in Napier.

The Napier pitch will be the first point of real interest. A spot of fungal infection has forced ground staff to move it sideways, and it looked green yesterday. If it is still that way come Thursday morning, the idea of playing offspinner Jeetan Patel in tandem with captain Dan Vettori might be put back in the drawer.