"This series will be a test for him. Till now, he has done well in the sub-continent…”

That was Sourav Ganguly talking to the media about MS Dhoni before the Kiwi series. The guy won the first T20 world cup in South Africa, won a tri-series in Australia which was a first for India, beat the Sri Lankans on their own turf twice in succession, etc, etc, and still the doubts persist. Or is it envy?

Ganguly’s men got a proper drubbing in both ODIs and Tests on the last tour to New Zealand, despite all those greats like Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar being in that team. So it must be hard to digest a bunch of youngsters, some of them with barely a couple of years of regular international experience, conquering one new frontier after another. It’s early days yet, but if they win the ODI series, it will be India’s first series win in New Zealand in any form of cricket in four decades.

The thumping win in the first ODI, with a captain’s knock by Dhoni, in partnership with his Chennai Super Kings mate Suresh Raina who is rapidly becoming our middle order mainstay, and another swashbuckling start by India’s greatest batsman – Virender Sehwag – has blown away all those dire prognostications about how difficult it would be for the young Indian team to come to terms with the Kiwi wickets and the cold and windy conditions which have laid low many an Indian team. It took this team just two T20 games to get set, it looks like. And even those T20s could have gone either way. The first one slipped away after Guptil’s plumb LBW - when he offered no stroke to Ishant Sharma - was turned down by a Kiwi umpire. In the second match, Irfan Pathan bowled some dolly half-volleys in a poor last over with the Kiwis needing 12 to win.

Sumit Chakrabarti/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication