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When it was suggested yesterday to Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni that a win over New Zealand in tonight's opening tour match would represent a solid psychological step forward, he ever so politely replied "fiddlesticks".
The first of two Twenty20 internationals is the start of a much awaited
10-match tour, a clash between perhaps the world's best team and a New Zealand side desperate to prove themselves a force on home soil.
India's last visit seven years ago was a disaster for the tourists, a 2-0 test series defeat and a 5-2 duffing in the one-dayers.
The fact that most pitches were the colour of a snooker table doesn't show up in the statistics, so India could argue they have a point to make.
But Dhoni doesn't do mind games.
"I'm not really worried too much," he said yesterday. "I believe every game is a new game, whether it's a Twenty20, a one-dayer or a test. You have to start from scratch.
"Personally it's not like if we won the first game it makes a huge difference to the entire tour because it's a 50-day tour. The team which is victorious is the one who plays good cricket for a consistent amount of time."
That said, bet a few rupees that Dhoni will want the tour to begin strongly. He is correct that tonight's result won't matter much when the test series starts on March 18.
Equally, for those players unfamiliar with New Zealand conditions and temperatures - and only three of the Indian Twenty20 squad have toured here before - a dose of early feel-good won't hurt.
Dhoni, a powerful personality who captains India in all three versions of the game, cuts an impressive figure.
He also wields a thunderous bat and in this Indian Twenty20 squad he's not alone. They are chockful of batsmen whose first instinct is to get the ball to the boundary, or over it.
Yuvraj Singh, Virendar Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Dhoni, Yusuf and Irfan Pathan are capable of demolition jobs on bowling attacks not on top of their game.
But Dhoni yesterday talked of the importance of team over individual performances.
"We have players who can win games on their own. But I am always happy to see the whole team performing instead of just a few individuals.
In these [New Zealand] conditions you can get a good ball and get out. I want the whole team to be at a level where each and every one is performing and the confidence level is high."
He spoke highly of New Zealand as "a good unit, a good bunch of players. They believe in contributing and take pride in their fielding".
New Zealand will take two spinners into the match, captain Dan Vettori confirming that offspinner Nathan McCullum will get another start tonight after a tidy effort in the one-run loss to Australia at Sydney 11 days ago.
Vettori hopes key batsman Ross Taylor will have recovered from his hamstring strain, with a decision to be made today, but is delighted allrounder Jacob Oram is back in the squad, even if only as a specialist batsman.
"In my opinion he's the most important player in the team because of his allround ability. It just feels better with him round the team," Vettori said.
India are world Twenty20 champions and have won seven of their 11 internationals, most recently a three- wicket win over Sri Lanka on February 10. They have also acquired a fair bit of know-how as hosts of the Indian Premier League.
By contrast, New Zealand's record is dismal, six wins from 19 games, and just one from their last 10 three-hour bashes.
Dhoni might not be too concerned about gaining an early edge; New Zealand probably need it more, certainly to show they are up for a hefty challenge over the next six weeks.
