Previous tour was an aberration - Dravid

Rahul Dravid is one of the few Indian batsmen whose average in New Zealand is more than his overall average. Preparing in Bangalore for his one last chance to win a Test, and a series, in New Zealand, Dravid feels not much should be read into the last trip. "I don't think it's particularly difficult [to play in New Zealand]," Dravid told Cricinfo. "I have always enjoyed touring there. Everyone is basing their assumptions on the last tour [in 2002-03], but it was probably an aberration."

It was certainly a tour where all that could go wrong for India did go wrong, from landing in Auckland - where Harbhajan Singh and Sourav Ganguly were fined for carrying soiled cricket boots - to the practice pitches and the actual matches. John Wright, then India's coach, mentions in his book, Indian Summers, how Dravid had by the end of it all said he would need to go back home to learn batting again.

Even the practice facilities were not great on that tour. "We'd expect a tough time on the field, but the practice wickets were spicier than what you'd expect or want," Dravid said.

This time around, India have decided to do away with the tour game as well. "It's never an ideal scenario, but that's the way it is nowadays. We just have to try and learn to deal with what we have got. It's a question of getting your mind right in time for the Tests."

Six years have gone since then,and Dravid can say in hindsight that the conditions he played in on the 1998 tour were as good as any. "The wickets were very good, both in Test matches and one-dayers. The wickets were actually fantastic: good to bat on, something in them for bowlers as well."

It may have been a "freak tour" in 2002-03, but it doesn't explain India's lack of success in New Zealand on previous visits. "Maybe because we don't tour there very often - we last went there six years ago," said Dravid. "We generally make a trip to England and Australia every three or four years. At least in my generation we haven't gone there enough - I have made three-four trips to every country, and there are one-day tournaments as well.

"So maybe that [familiarity] is the only issue when people say it's a difficult place for us to tour."

Sachin Tendulkar, among others, has spoken of the physical challenges of playing in New Zealand - the chilly conditions, and adjusting to bowlers bowling with and into the strong Wellington wind. But that, for Dravid, is just another challenge that international cricket brings.

"Wellington can be a little breezy; Napier sometimes," he said. "But is it colder than some of the days you have played in England? I don't think so. It's windy as well in England, and sometimes in Australia.

"We have played in cold weather before, we have played in windy conditions before… we have played on seaming wickets before. Counting out the tour last time, if I look at the trip of '98, I have played on better wickets in New Zealand than I have in some places in England, Australia or South Africa."

The New Zealand is an interesting juncture - both for India and Dravid. India have largely been on an upswing in the past year, and this could be the last test before they become one of the best three teams in the world.

Dravid showed signs of coming out of a personal slump, with a century in Mohali, but it will be a victory at an individual level for a batsman like him to do well in conditions that are demanding and impossible to replicate when he trains at home.

"It's always a challenge to do well abroad. Because you go out of your comfort zone" he said. "There's always a great challenge and a great buzz about doing well in conditions that the opposition know better than you. Not only as an individual, but as a team. It's always exciting when you come out with a series win abroad."

India will start the stronger team on paper, but Dravid is not looking at the results before the process. "I'd be disappointed if we went there and didn't play good cricket. That's what we can focus on, and not worry about the results and the rankings. Where we are in the rankings also depends on what other teams do. Who wins where, who loses where, what happens in the Australia-South Africa series.

"We didn't play particularly good cricket there on the last two trips. I think we have got the kind of team now that should play good cricket. I' be a little disappointed if we didn't play well and compete there. If we do play well, we might end on the right side of the result."