The Indian batsmen's reputation is clearly preceding them: even young bowlers across the world give themselves a chance against them, resorting to short-pitched stuff in the hope that it will engage them.

"We have watched them on television and noticed that they have got out a lot pulling and hooking," NZ XI skipper Anton Devcich quipped. "We thought we might as well test them out and see if they have done their work over the past few days," one of the oldest guys in the side added.

The 28-year-old, however, felt that the Indians did pretty well even though it was a flat wicket out there. "They were very keen to bat some time. Their game was quite impressive from what I saw today," he said, at the end of the two-day practice game.

"We had a couple of tall pace bowlers. They generated good pace off the wicket," he pointed out. He, however, believed that the batsmen would be copping a little bit more of the short ball in the Test series.

He singled out Pujara even though everybody got a few runs. "He looks really organised and looked like he knew how he would like to play. We had to work really hard to even look like getting him out. So I think the Black Caps are going to have to work really hard, bowl really well to get him out early."

The former New Zealand player, who has featured in the shorter formats, was happy for the young boys in the team. "They have never played against this calibre of players. It's a great learning curve and experience really, knowing where to bowl the ball, batting - knowing what shots you can play and what you can't. It was very valuable for them, as I am sure it was for the Indians."


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