We will not take Kiwis lightly: Dhoni

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For Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the convincing victory at Hyderabad will have come as a huge relief. The India skipper is ushering in a new season with hope, if not too much promise — especially with men of the calibre of Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman missing from their ranks.

The scars of two overseas drubbings — 4-0 each against England and Australia — are still fresh in the memory. And as he awaits the ‘big two’, one later this year and the other early next year, Dhoni has to make sure that he is battle-ready for India’s two nemeses in the recent past.
The emphatic win over New Zealand in the first Test inside four days sets up the season perfectly for the hosts, even though the inexperienced Kiwis do not pose the stiffest of challenges.
On the eve of the second Test, Dhoni firmly ruled out any experiments — like pushing Virender Sehwag down the batting order, which the opener had wished to not long ago. Or for that matter, giving a Test debut to Ajinkiya Rahane.
Dhoni also emphasised that a good start in only half the job done and expected the same kind of ruthlessness they showed in the first Test.
“We don’t want to be over-confident. That has never been the case with us. We are a team who respect opponents, wherever we are playing and that’s one good thing with us. So whatever right things we did in the first Test we have to repeat everything here.
“We have to try and stick to the basics and keep it simple. So we don’t want to complicate it too much,” the skipper said, meaning they meant business over the next five days.
Dhoni himself will know that his contribution with the bat is quite essential, if India are to climb from fifth spot in the Test rankings. And he acknowledged the role that he needs to play. “Somebody needs to bat with the tail-enders. If the last three or four batsmen contribute it can be very frustrating for the opponents and at the same time you add some valuable runs on the total. That will be my role. The no. 6 (Suresh Raina) will also have to bat with the tail-enders and get as many runs as possible,” noted Dhoni, who came up with 73 at Hyderabad.