Cricket: Lessons learned from the land of Laxman

Two tests and it's all square.

Who'd have picked that as the scenario going into the third and final test against India at Nagpur, starting tomorrow?

So what have we seen so far? Here are five things New Zealand have learnt from the first two tests.

1: Life in old dog Tommy

Remember last season? At one point Chris Martin was apparently on his last legs.

He did well against India in the home series, having been dropped for the Bangladesh visit.

But time was catching up with the tall, lean new ball man. It had been a good innings, so to speak.

Then came the second innings of the first test at Ahmedabad and the player they call Tom roared again.

India started with a 28-run first innings lead, but within minutes were sagging at 17 for five, as Martin whistled out Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar and Suresh Raina inside 11 overs. At that point, his figures read: 11-7-16-5.

It was swing and seam bowling of high quality and shoved open the door to the prospect of a New Zealand victory.

VVS Laxman and Harbhajan Singh shut it over the next few hours, but Martin had amply demonstrated there is still bite in his work.

He'll be 36 on December 10, but with 188 wickets from 58 tests, at 34.9, he's got an obvious target within reach.

Nagpur, plus two tests at home to Pakistan in January might just get him over the line.

What then? Whenever he retires, he'll sit in the top four New Zealand test wicket takers - after Sir Richard Hadlee's 431, Dan Vettori's 335 and Chris Cairns's 218 - for a long time.

James Franklin's 80 comes next among active players.

2: Baz the test opener

When it was mooted that Brendon McCullum should go to the top of the test batting order at the same time as giving up the keeping gloves in five-day cricket, it's fair to say the plan wasn't greeted with universal support from the cricket public.

ODIs and T20s, fine. But tests?

With the widely accepted requirements of seeing off the new ball, being patient, having a solid technique and leaving those ramp shots in the dressing room? Hmm, not so sure about that.

But McCullum pushed for the job - No 3 was in the frame too - and the selectors, casting about at their options, gave the green light.

First came an encouraging 65 over 3h 41min in the first innings at Ahmedabad, and not a six in sight.

Then, at Hyderabad, McCullum's 225 anchored New Zealand's second innings response which ensured the visitors would still be in with a winning chance come Nagpur.

McCullum battled for nine hours and faced 308 balls to join the elite double-hundred club.

It was a fine innings, in which technique and composure stayed intact until the end, and showed he possesses the capability of changing his tempo to the demands of a specific situation.

There will be harder days ahead on bowler-friendly surfaces, but it's a start, no more than that as McCullum acknowledged - albeit an early vigorous riposte to those who simply didn't think he had it in him.

He's 29, in his prime, very much a player for the modern cricket age, and now a fresh direction is beckoning.

3: The importance of Dan the bowler

In the first two tests, New Zealand have bowled three complete innings to India's batting champions.

Martin grabbed his five in the second half of the Ahmedabad test, but guess who was New Zealand's most successful bowler in the other two innings? No prizes either.

Dan Vettori has 11 wickets so far, comfortably the most for either side.

Four for 118 and two for 81 were followed by five for 135 at Hyderabad. Altogether, Vettori's figures read 142.3-27-334-11. He's averaging 30 per wicket.

The point is, where would New Zealand's bowling be without the skipper?

No doubt he'd rather attack more often, but he's having to combine that with being the stock man who keeps things tight. In the past year, Vettori has taken 33 wickets in eight tests. He lies 96 wickets behind the champion Hadlee. His last 19 tests have produced 79 wickets.

Give him three years and at his current rate he'll probably catch the all time great, which won't change the identity of New Zealand's greatest bowler, just the order of who has taken the most wickets.

Bowling life after Vettori is something which should be exercising important minds.

4: Williamson presents his test credentials

Only the national selectors know why they didn't pick the Northern Districts batsman last summer when the time seemed right to introduce him during the Indians' visit to New Zealand.

He made his ODI debut in Sri Lanka and began with a brace of ducks. In Bangladesh, however, he hit 108, the one bright batting spark on a grim trip.

Then came Ahmedabad and, coming in at No 6, Williamson showed why experienced judges in New Zealand are excited about his potential.

He made 131, the eighth time a New Zealander has hit a century on test debut. The big thing about the innings was that the 20-year-old from Tauranga looked like he belonged.

Then, at Hyderabad, after falling early to Zaheer Khan in the first innings, he made a savvy 69 to help McCullum ensure there would be no last-day dramatics.

Indeed, Williamson took the lead role for much of the 124-run stand.

His technique seems sound and Indian expert commentators Sunil Gavaskar and Ravi Shastri, both of whom know a thing or two about batting in India, were highly impressed with his back-foot play.

It's always wise to keep the powder dry when assessing a new international face, but Williamson has undoubtedly added a fresh, encouraging dimension to the New Zealand team.

5: McIntosh turns a large corner

Or does he? That's the question hovering over the tall Auckland left hand opener.

Give the 30-year-old - he's 31 on December 4 - top marks for nerve. After lasting 16 balls for a pair to Zaheer in Ahmedabad, McIntosh's test future was squarely on the line.

But his double of 102 and 49 in the second test - a total of 541 minutes in the middle - offered the prospect that things could be about to get better. The test suggested that once he gets past the opening overs he can do a decent job of batting time.

Given the last few years of mix and match opening partnerships, that'll do nicely for now.

In his last six tests, McIntosh is averaging 41, which is pretty respectable. His problem is consistency. Fourteen of his 29 test innings have ended before reaching 10.

McIntosh is an old-fashioned opener. Get in, knuckle down, nothing flashy, lay the groundwork - that's the mantra. Actually enlarge this point: McIntosh leads a top six who have done their job with conscientiousness and skill.

Things might go wrong in Nagpur but McIntosh will certainly feel better now than on the first morning at Hyderabad.