Batsmen hold the key - Ganguly

Sourav Ganguly, the former India captain, has said the onus will be on the batsmen during India's upcoming tour of New Zealand. "The key for India is to bat well," Ganguly said at a private event in Mumbai.

Ganguly led India on their last tour to New Zealand in 2002-03, where they lost 2-0 in the Test series and 5-2 in the ODIs. The batsmen struggled on seamer-friendly tracks then, and Ganguly said they would need to practice hard in the nets in order to adapt quickly to the conditions.

"The biggest challenge is the lack of a warm-up before the series starts," he said. "Also ahead of the Test series some of the Indian batsmen like Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman will need to adapt quickly as they will not be playing any practice games." Dravid told Cricinfo that the 2002-03 tour was "probably an aberration", but admitted that no practice game was not "an ideal scenario".

India have been successful in the recent past under Mahendra Singh Dhoni but Ganguly felt the performance on overseas tours would determine how good the present side is. "This will be a serious test for Dhoni, and the next two years very important for India's progress to the No.1 ranking," he said. "They play a lot of cricket overseas."

Ganguly also said the association of John Wright, the former India coach, with the New Zealand side should not be much of a concern for the Indian side. "John Wright is a coach, and probably contributes 10% to what happens on the field so I don't perceive him as a threat," he said. Wright, now a New Zealand national selector, recently said he had "a few ideas" on how to help the home team.

Wright and Ganguly forged a successful association during their tenure as India's coach and captain, and the former captain felt Kirsten was performing a similar role in the present India set-up. "There is a bit of Wright in Kirsten. Gary is doing a wonderful job. He supports the players. The coach needs to be a friend. The moment the coach starts dominating there will be problems in the team," he said. "The captain is the most important person in the team. I have worked with John Wright and Gary Kirsten and both have the right mindset and have the right way to coach."