Sachin Return as India Elect to Bat Against New Zealand

Chennai: India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat against New Zealand in their second and final warm-up match ahead of the Cricket World Cup.

Indian team will be looking to keep up the momentum they gained during their morale-boosting win over defending champions Australia, despite the middle-order batting woes, against Kiwis on Wednesday.

The match would provide India, who defeated Australia by 38 runs in their first practice match in Bangalore on Sunday, a last chance to assess the fitness of players and combination before the mega-event, commencing on February 19 in Dhaka where India will take on Bangladesh in the inaugural tie.

On the other hand, New Zealand, who have had a poor run in the recent past, did a world of good to their own morale when they overcame a fighting Ireland by 32 runs in their high-scoring warm-up tie in Nagpur, thanks to a solid 130 by Martin Guptill.

The return of Sachin Tendulkar, who is certain to play Wednesday's tie, would also boost India. It will also give the iconic batsman a chance to assess himself ahead of the sporting extravaganza.

The trio of Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina, who failed to capitalise on good starts during the ODI series in South Africa, wasted the opportunity in the warm-up tie as well against Australia, must fire to take the pressure off bowlers.

As far as India's bowling is concerned, it would be a chance for the pacers in Munaf Patel, Ashish Nehra and S Sreesanth to impress the selectors for a place in the final eleven during the World Cup.

With already so much talk about the vital role to be played by the spinners, the trio of Harbhajan Singh, Chawla and local boy R Ashwin would be focussing on making the most of the conditions and the slow wicket, even though the groundsmen have indicated that the pitch for Wednesday's game will not be the one used for South Africa-Zimbabwe warm up tie last week.

Both South African skipper Graeme Smith and Zimbabwe's Elton Chigumbura said the wicket was dead and expected pitches for World Cup to be prepared better.