Hughes has to find runs - Clarke

Michael Clarke has conceded that Phillip Hughes may need to go back to state cricket to regain his form after another failure in the second innings of Australia's loss to New Zealand in Hobart. However, Clarke said it was unfortunate that there was no Sheffield Shield cricket scheduled until after the Test series against India ends in February, meaning Hughes will have nothing but Twenty20 in which to regain his touch.

Hughes walked off the field a defeated man, his weakness outside off stump having almost certainly ended this phase of his Test career, with Shaun Marsh and Shane Watson expected to return to the side on Boxing Day against India. Hughes was caught by Martin Guptill in the cordon off the bowling of Chris Martin for the fourth time in the series. Clarke said the lack of runs for Hughes - he has scored 9, 9, 88, 11, 10, 7, 4 and 20 in his past eight Test innings - was a concern.

"He's obviously really disappointed like all the batters are, the way we played today," Clarke said. "But Hughesy is probably the most disappointed. He's been getting out the same way. I know he's been working hard in the nets trying to improve that deficiency in his technique and he'll continue to work on that. But he needs to find some runs, it's as simple as that. If he's not making them for Australia he's going to have to go back and score some for New South Wales."

Besides the Big Bash League and club cricket, the only other opportunity for Hughes to score runs before the end of the Test summer will be in next week's Cricket Australia Chairman's XI match against the touring Indians in Canberra. In that three-day encounter, Hughes will be competing with other top-order men such as Marsh and Usman Khawaja, who are also in the side. David Warner is also set to play at Manuka Oval, but he has already pencilled in his name for the Boxing Day Test by carrying his bat for 123 not out in Hobart, almost conjuring victory for Australia from a dire position.

"There is no four-day cricket now for New South Wales, unfortunately," Clarke said. We go back and play Twenty20 cricket so, yeah, if that's the case for somebody, people who get dropped from this team, they're going to have to go back to Twenty20 and score some runs. I'm not sure how it's going to work but you're going to have to be picked back into the Australian team from the Big Bash. We'll wait and see what happens."

The lack of first-class cricket in Australia from early December to the start of February - covering the majority of the Australian summer - was deemed necessary by Cricket Australia to allow the new eight-team BBL to flourish. When asked if he would have preferred Shield cricket during the period, Clarke was careful not to directly criticise the scheduling, but his discontent was evident.

"Well, we've got what we've got," he said. "At the end of the day let's deal with it. My opinion is not going to change anything. It's about scoring runs in any form of the game you play. If it's Twenty20, score runs. If it's one-dayers, score runs and just continue to get your name, push your name up in front of the selectors' eyes to get selected for any form of the game. It's what we've got."

Australia play four Tests against India, beginning on December 26 at the MCG, and finishing in Adelaide on January 28. The Shield season has a major hiatus from December 9 until February 2.

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Bracewell delivers extraordinary victory for NZ

New Zealand 150 (Brownlie 56, Pattinson 5-51) and 226 (Taylor 56, Lyon 3-25) beat Australia 136 (Bracewell 3-20, Boult 3-29) and 233 (Warner 123*, Bracewell 6-40) by seven runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

An extraordinary spell from Doug Bracewell and horrific batting disintegration by Australia handed New Zealand a dramatic and momentous seven-run Test victory in Hobart, their first on these shores since 1985.

The hosts' chase of 241 had been guided expertly by David Warner, but Bracewell's removal of Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey, all on 159, left Australia a nervous 5 for 173 at lunch, and on resumption the remaining five went down for a mere 60. In all it was a collapse of 8 for 74, Warner left marooned on 123 when the last man, Nathan Lyon, was bowled by Bracewell.

Bracewell's display, characterised by swing, bounce and sharp variation, confirmed his pre-series billing by the New Zealand captain Ross Taylor as a cricketer of enormous potential. It also branded Australia as a team of profound vulnerability with the bat, a problem made doubly vexing by the fact the top seven is populated as much by experience as callow youth. Clarke will take precious little consolation from the retention of the Trans-Tasman Trophy.

Phillip Hughes had been dismissed without addition to his overnight score, yet again caught by Martin Guptill off the bowling of Chris Martin, and Usman Khawaja was again out for a useful but not sufficiently consequential tally. Ponting and Warner took Australia to within 82 with eight wickets in hand, before tumult ensued.

Hughes and Warner resumed in morning sunshine, aware that morning session had been the most difficult in which to bat during this match. Martin shared this knowledge, and he swiftly made use of it by finding another delivery that seamed across Hughes to be snapped up by Guptill in the slips. Hughes had been out in that manner in each of his four innings for the series, and he walked off knowing he could not expect to be retained for the Boxing Day Test.

By contrast Warner did not let the bowlers settle, punching through the offside with rare power, though it was an edge over the slips cordon off the bowling of Bracewell that delivered his first Test half-century.

Khawaja provided sound support for a time, but Warner twinged his back when diving for a run-out and was visibly inconvenienced. Perhaps trying to take more responsibility for scoring, Khawaja drove loosely at a wide delivery from Trent Boult and was held by Ross Taylor, who did brilliantly to hold his poise as Guptill dived across him from second slip.

Ponting emerged for what may well be his final Test innings in Hobart, and played himself in with a handful of crisp shots. Warner was regaining some freedom of movement at the other end, and lunch emerged into view with the hosts in apparent control.

However Bracewell had been moving the ball consistently, and varying his pace with intelligence. Ponting was undone by a delivery that stopped on him as he tried a signature back-foot drive, and lobbed gently off the toe of his bat to cover. The crowd offered a generous ovation, but it was not acknowledged, Ponting lost in his own thoughts and frustrations at letting New Zealand back into the contest.

Bracewell had troubled Clarke all series, shaping the ball both ways from his muscular body action, and he now prised out Australia's captain with an away swinger that Taylor claimed at the second attempt. His next ball also swung, beating Hussey's bat to strike the pad in front of middle and leg. A not out verdict was referred by Taylor, and within moments Bracewell was on a hat-trick.

Warner top-edged a hook off Martin then drove with conviction to move well into the 90s, and after Brad Haddin survived Bracewell's hat-trick ball the teams walked off for lunch. When they returned, Warner was swiftly into three figures, laughing and punching the air in recognition of a richly-deserved century.

Tim Southee found some delectable outswing in the afternoon, and Haddin edged perilously wide of the slips. Taylor reinforced the cordon and next ball Haddin duly chased another, snicking straight to New Zealand's captain. Peter Siddle did likewise, and for the first time all day the visitors were favoured to win.

Bracewell was bending the ball with similar venom, and two balls after James Pattinson survived a review for lbw when he did not offer a shot, a delivery angled across was snapped up by Guptill in the cordon.

Mitchell Starc was too late and too crooked to keep out his second ball, another swerving demon from Bracewell, and all of a sudden Warner had only Lyon for company. A few solid blows brought the target within 25 runs, but then Southee and New Zealand had a moment in which they felt victory was theirs.

A full delivery swung down the line and struck Lyon in front, quickly drawing a raised finger from the umpire Nigel Llong. Lyon's last-ditch referral looked exactly that, but the ball tracker improbably revealed the ball had pitched a millimetre outside leg stump. To widespread disbelief, the chase resumed.

Next over and the 'keeper Reece Young encouraged the referral of another lbw appeal against Lyon, only to find that Bracewell's in-dipper was arcing down the legside, and the No. 11 then unveiled a princely flick through straight midwicket to demonstrate his composure. Warner took a single, Bracewell bustled in again, and found one more tearing delivery to crash through Lyon's defence.

As New Zealand celebrated, Lyon sank to the ground, disbelieving that the match had been lost. Bad as he felt, it was the batsmen other than Warner who had greatest cause to feel poorly.

Daniel Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo

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Taylor 'stoked' with Bracewell burst

That Doug Bracewell was not Man of the Match in Hobart was a travesty. He finished with match figures of 9 for 60. He was responsible for altering the course of the Test when Australia seemed set for victory. In short, he was the reason New Zealand won a Test in Australia for the first time since his uncle John played for the national side in 1985.

In their wisdom, Channel Nine asked viewers to vote for the Man of the Match. On a day when David Warner's maiden Test hundred nearly won Australia the game, it was no wonder that Australian fans elected Warner. His innings was brilliant, but he was not the best player in the game. Even Bracewell's captain, Ross Taylor, was surprised by how dramatically the fast man lifted New Zealand.

"I thought Dougie would bowl well," Taylor said. "I didn't think he would bowl that well."

Taylor was referring to his decision to hand the ball to Bracewell with less than 30 minutes to go for lunch. Operating from the southern end, Bracewell removed Ricky Ponting with the fourth ball of his spell and in his next over, nipped the ball away magnificently from Michael Clarke to entice an edge to slip. His very next ball swung in to Michael Hussey, who was lbw on review.

"I thought the way [Peter] Siddle and [James] Pattinson bowled from that end, Doug is probably 5kph slower than them but he's a similar bowler, can hit the deck and swing it away," Taylor said. "As captain you've got to go on hunches.

"I'm just stoked for Dougie. He didn't bowl as well as he would have liked in Brisbane. It didn't help that his captain dropped a catch as well. He bowled outstandingly well for a young guy, only 21, to come in in his third Test match and get Ponting, Clarke and Hussey - that's something you tell your grandkids."

Based on Bracewell's family history, his grandkids might well play for the Black Caps too. It is a huge tick in the box of New Zealand's two selectors, Kim Littlejohn and the coach John Wright, that they trusted Bracewell to be ready for Test cricket. Prior to his debut in Zimbabwe, he had 42 first-class wickets at an average of 42.45. But they saw something in him.

Three Tests into his career, Bracewell has 16 wickets at 19.25. When he mastered the curve in the air and seam off the pitch, Australia had no way to handle him. Another double-wicket over came when he had James Pattinson caught at slip and bowled Mitchell Starc, who couldn't get bat on a ball that jagged in from the off stump, leaving Australia nine wickets down.

Fittingly, Bracewell finished the job in his seventh consecutive over after lunch - his tenth of the spell if the pre-lunch overs are taken into consideration. He nipped another ball in from outside off to bowl Australia's No. 11, Nathan Lyon, and was mobbed by his team-mates. He was the star, but he had plenty of assistance.

Trent Boult was excellent on debut, while Chris Martin led the way in the first innings. And Tim Southee, perhaps the weaker link during the first three innings of the series, picked up two wickets in an over on Monday to take New Zealand from a good position to a brilliant one.

Southee swung the ball away from Brad Haddin to have him caught at slip one ball after being dropped in the cordon, and also drew an edge to slip from Peter Siddle. Taylor said bowling Australia out for 136 and 233 rated as one of the most complete bowling performances he had been part of in the New Zealand side.

"I thought we bowled better in the first innings to be honest," Taylor said. "As a complete performance, yes, I thought we caught well, we didn't drop any. We get a lot of flak for dropping catches but we took all our catches. I'm just stoked.

"We knew we needed wickets before lunch. I didn't bat very well but I never felt in, so I knew that it wasn't going to be easy to bat on that wicket. It was still nipping around on day four so we thought wickets, as they did in our innings, would fall in clumps, so we couldn't be too flat. We had to be as upbeat as possible and that's how we looked at it."

And of course, they needed someone to bowl well. That well.

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'Confidence will carry a long way' - Fleming

New Zealand's former captain Stephen Fleming spoke for a generation of cricketers from his homeland when he rejoiced in a remarkable seven-run victory over Australia, and declared the result may be the galvanising moment the current leader Ross Taylor requires to build a winning era.

Not once did Fleming enjoy a Test win over Australia in a career that spanned 1994 to 2008, despite going close several times as one of the game's most widely respected leaders. He said the result in Hobart was close to the ultimate for New Zealand cricket, and forecast the building of a team that can rise up the world rankings.

"No it doesn't [get any bigger for New Zealand cricket]," Fleming told ESPNcricinfo. "A lot of our sides are actually measured on the way we play in Australia, which is why the series is so important to New Zealand players.

"It has been very difficult over the last decade or 15 years to play against Australia, it was a wonderful side they turned out, but there were opportunities this time and I know the players were disappointed that they didn't do better in the first Test. That will all be forgotten with the performance they've put in here.

"It's not the finished product by any means, and certainly with Ross' captaincy it is early days, but the boost of confidence he'll get from that and the players he will now have belief in, will carry a long way. It is a tough summer with South Africa touring for a full series, and it is not going to get any easier. Hopefully they can keep improving and this Test will certainly help the confidence levels, and we're a much better team at home than away."

Conditions in Hobart were reminiscent of those often found in New Zealand, and Fleming said the chance to bowl to Australia on sporting wickets was always enjoyed. He reasoned that a pitch offering as much to bowlers as batsmen would always make Test cricket an engrossing battle.

"I don't mind a bowlers' Test," he said. "It goes forward and gives everyone an opportunity, especially the New Zealand side where we thrive and we're better in those types of conditions than flat ones. I loved the way it ebbed and flowed, right up until before lunch today, it was an excellent performance by our bowlers and showed great determination by the batters, so I'm absolutely delighted for Ross and very pleased to beat Australia - it's been a long time between drinks."

Doug Bracewell's six wickets turned a fluctuating match decisively towards New Zealand either side of lunch on the fourth day, and Fleming said the young seamer's progress was both a reminder of the value of consistency, but also a tick for one of the country's most famed cricket families.

"He's been impressive right from his first performance in Zimbabwe," Fleming said, "He has bowled a good Test match length, he's had a couple of good pitches to bowl on in the Australia series, I think that is something the bowlers will be grateful for. Chris Martin bowled extremely well and led the attack, and enabled Doug to come through.

"Those wickets today were just reward for being consistently there and thereabouts and he in particular will take a lot of confidence from that. They're a very proud family, that's been talked about a lot, and his dad will be very proud of his performance, and John will be very happy that he's been able to beat Australia, which was one of John's big ambitions and desires when he played."

Reflecting on his own contests against Australia, during which he led a touring party to a drawn series against the team of Steve Waugh in 2001, Fleming said Taylor's team had taken an opportunity to exploit an opposition in a state of regeneration not dissimilar to their own.

"They probably put together the greatest sides of all time, that's what we felt like when we were playing the Australian side of years ago, but there was opportunity this time," Fleming said. "There's certainly a rebuilding phase going on in Australian cricket, but that's not to take anything away from the New Zealand performance, there are a lot of young players in there as well.

"It will mean a lot for the cricketing summer here, which was looking at being a bit glum after the first Test performance, it is a nice shot in the arm and a great Christmas present for us"

"There were just more opportunities with more Australian players under pressure, and a case of trying to exploit that and it looked like the opportunity was gone, but they dug deep today and came away with a great victory. It will mean a lot for the cricketing summer here, which was looking at being a bit glum after the first Test performance, it is a nice shot in the arm and a great Christmas present for us."

Change has been ever-present in New Zealand cricket in 2011, as a new team structure was put in place around Taylor's fledgling captaincy. Fleming said there were enough signs that the team could be about to begin phase of strong results, allowing the structure to evolve around it.

"John Buchanan is in the mix putting things in place and it is going to take time for positive results to materialise, but in between they've just got to perform," Fleming said. "Performance puts the blowtorch on everything and often the best systems are changed just because the performance of the top team is not as good as it should be.

"But they've got the makings of being a good side, a good summer here and a bit of experience built on, particularly after this performance, and I do think they have the makings of a good side. They're pretty young, the majority of the players are pretty young, and they have a young captain. So hopefully it is the start of a nice period for New Zealand cricket."

Daniel Brettig is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo

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Another innings defeat for limp Bangladesh

Pakistan 594 for 5 decl. (Younis 200*, Hafeez 143, Shafiq 104) beat Bangladesh 135 (Rehman 3-9, Ajmal 3-40) and 275 (Nazimuddin 78, Shakib 51, Rehman 4-88) by an innings and 184 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Bangladesh crashed to their 35th innings defeat in 73 Tests, after Pakistan's spinners ran circles through the middle and lower order on the fourth morning in Chittagong. The result seemed inevitable right from the first day, when the hosts put on a batting horror show to fold for 135 in their first innings. They made a better fist of things in the second dig, though the pitch had turned much more difficult after baking under the sun for three days. Their late defiance, however, only served to extend the game into its 11th session, before Pakistan completed their fifth win in nine Tests this year.

That the hosts even survived until lunch was down to the opener Nazimuddin, whose approach contrasted sharply with the impatience of his top-order colleagues. He made 78 off 189 balls, taking his match tally on debut to 109, giving the hosts something to salvage from another shambolic Test match. Nazimuddin's vigil was particularly impressive given the sheer quality of spinners he was facing. With the rough patches on the leg-stump area opening up finally, Saeed Ajmal was lethal from round the stumps, while Abdur Rehman produced drift and sharp turn with an attacking line. Together, they made short work of a line-up that lacked the technique to survive against a spin attack far superior to their own.

The signs were ominous for Bangladesh from the moment Umar Gul got a ball to scoot low, just away from the stumps, in his opening over. Nazimiuddin nearly played on to Rehman, left balls that were uncomfortably close to off stump, and almost soft-batted a fizzing Ajmal offbreak back onto the wickets. He carried on, though, unfazed by the close misses, and was prepared to look ugly if he had to, unlike his trigger-happy team-mates.

Shakib Al Hasan began with an expansive cover drive off Umar Gul for four, but fell after reaching 50, outdone by his perilous tendency to play back to the spinners. That gave Rehman his 50th Test wicket in 11 Tests, joint-fastest for a Pakistan spinner, along with Ajmal. Rehman should have had Mushfiqur Rahim in the same over, but umpire Billy Doctrove adjudged the lbw appeal in the batsman's favour.

Nazimuddin reached his 50 with a nurdle through midwicket, and summoned the confidence to hoist Ajmal over mid-on for four. Adnan Akmal helped him along with two drops behind the stumps, and Nazimuddin celebrated by spooning Rehman inside-out, and planting Ajmal over midwicket for sixes. Two more pleasing fours followed, and Misbah-ul-Haq - a defensive captain at the best of times - promptly pushed men back to long-off, square leg and midwicket. That didn't stop Nazimuddin from another loft down the ground, and he grimaced in self-admonishment as soon as he played the shot, realising he had holed out to long-off.

Mushfiqur hung on gamely, reading the spin variations from the crease, but Mahmudullah was owned by an Ajmal doosra that spun across to hit off stump. Pakistan had five more overs before lunch to bring an early close to the action, but Mushfiqur and Elias Sunny survived till the break. The final rites were administered soon after, with Rehman trapping Mushfiqur in front for 49, and Aizaz Cheema getting the ninth wicket with the second new ball. Rubel Hossain was unavailable to bat after injuring himself on the third day, but he wasn't the only Bangladeshi who failed to turn up.

Nitin Sundar is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo

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'We showed a lot of ticker today' - Taylor

New Zealand sides defeat Australia at rugby. Or netball. They don't beat Australia in Test cricket. And they definitely don't do it on Australian soil. At least, that was the way New Zealand were viewed until a quiet Monday afternoon in Hobart, when Doug Bracewell curled the ball through Australia's middle and lower order. A seven-run win ended 18 years of hidings and draws.

Before this day, New Zealand had only won in Australia when Richard Hadlee was at his peak. They hadn't even managed it in New Zealand since March 1993. To put that in perspective, Bracewell, Kane Williamson, Tim Southee and Trent Boult had not yet started school. The New Zealand captain who ended the drought, Ross Taylor, was eight years old.

"When did we win?" Taylor said after the Hobart victory. "Oh, 1993. Can I remember it? Vaguely. Not well."

A generation of young New Zealand players and fans now know what it's like to beat Australia. It can be done. And after Taylor's team stayed with Australia for two days in the first Test in Brisbane, only to lose their way as the match wore on, he had one simple message for his men. Show some ticker and never give up. As a result, Taylor has the enviable record of two wins from three Tests in charge.

"I'm not a very good speaker, as you can tell by now, but the only thing I try to instil in the players is fight and be proud in playing for your country," Taylor said. "We didn't show much fight in Brisbane but we showed a lot of guts and determination out there today. That was for the New Zealand public, an early Christmas present.

"[I have] over 50 text messages on my phone - I think that's pretty big. Rugby is our No.1 sport but any sport against Australia, winning in Australia, the New Zealand public enjoys. The New Zealand public knows that the New Zealand cricket team, when playing against Australia, is always the underdogs, but they don't like it when we don't show much fight. That's what we didn't do in Brisbane. We showed a lot of ticker today."

They needed it. On the second afternoon, when Taylor and Kane Williamson were batting with discipline, New Zealand deserved to be favourites. By the fourth morning, when David Warner was on his way to a century with a composed Usman Khawaja also in the middle, Australia were 119 runs from victory with nine wickets in hand.

"We believed in ourselves, that we could win this match," Taylor said. "We knew we had to fight. We knew we had to play a lot better than we did in Brisbane. We talked a lot about the way we bowled in Zimbabwe [during the Bulawayo Test] in the last session; about just fighting, taking our catches and bowling in the right areas, and we'll get reward. That's what happened."

Not that it was smooth sailing, even when Bracewell and Tim Southee started to torment the Australian batsmen with hooping swing. With 42 runs still required, Warner was joined by the No. 11, Nathan Lyon, and the pair nearly steered Australia home.

New Zealand thought they had won when Lyon was given out lbw but Australia's review indicated the ball had pitched outside the leg stump, even though the right-armer Southee was coming over the wicket. To the naked eye, it was hard to believe the Eagle-Eye verdict, as the ball appeared to strike Lyon in line. It nearly cost New Zealand the game.

"It's a G-rated programme isn't it?" Taylor said when asked about how he felt at the time of the reviews. "There were a lot of things going through my mind. There must be something wrong with my eyes. For me personally, some of them which I thought were not out were out and vice-versa. But at the end of the day, we won the match. The emotions going through? My goal was to show a calmness, but inside I was churning.

"They fought the whole way. We would have won by 40 runs out there against some teams. But the way Lyon and Warner played, I nearly had a heart attack. Warner was outstanding. To come in in only his second match and control the game the way he did … we'll be on the wrong side of a few hidings so I can't feel too sorry for him, but he deserves a lot of credit for the way he batted."

As it turned out, Warner was Man of the Match, ahead of the more deserving Bracewell. The award was voted for by the Australian public, watching the telecast. But it's the New Zealand public who will have the last laugh. For the first time in a generation, they can celebrate a Test victory over Australia.

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Lead-up to first Test is the key - Dhoni

MS Dhoni, the India captain, has said how his team utilise their time in Australia in the lead-up to the first Test will determine the outcome of the series. "It depends on how we prepare ourselves during the 12 days before the Test match and how we adapt to the conditions," Dhoni said. "Most of the batsmen have played there before. We are hoping we will do well there."

India have been poor starters overseas of late and have lost the first Test of the series on their previous trips to Australia, South Africa, Sri Lanka and England. But Duncan Fletcher, the India coach, said an early arrival in Australia for some of his players coupled with two warm-up games should be sufficient for the team to acclimatise to conditions. "You hope that they do adapt during that period of time. Probably it is enough," Fletcher said in Chennai ahead of the team's departure to Australia.

Australia have struggled recently, but Dhoni said this was not necessarily India's best chance to win a Test series in Australia, and that he would rather work on his side's strengths and weaknesses than concentrate on the opposition's form. "Even last time [in 2007-08] we had a very good chance and we did really perform well. It is not that if the opposition is not doing well it will be a best chance for us. We have to play to the level of the kind of talent that we have got and not worry about such things. We are more concerned about what we need to work on and are not too worried about what kind of opposition we are playing.

"Some people think that the last Australian team was much better than the current Australian side. Some of the present players were not part of the 2008 side. To judge them is quite a difficult task. Anil Kumble was part of our side [then]. The spinners coming into the team now are not as experienced as Anil. It applies to the Australian team also. They had big players like Adam Gilchrist and others.

"[Because they are] missing big names in the present setup, some people think that this is our best chance. But we did well that time also and quite a few things happened in the series. Most of you watched that. We will try to keep such things away. We are a good side and we need to do well on the field."

Fletcher agreed with Dhoni about the need for India to focus on their own game but added that Australia had some good players who were currently out of form and India would do well to keep things that way.

Zaheer Khan, who is returning after a long injury lay-off, will be crucial if India are to put pressure on the Australia line-up and Fletcher said that he did not want to rush his premier fast bowler back. "From the reports that I get, Zaheer had come to Mumbai and bowled in the nets there and he looked impressive. I think it is very important to be careful; he looked to be in very good condition even when he came to England.

"He has got through two games [in the Ranji Trophy, for Mumbai]. It will be ideal preparation for him. We do not want to rush him back too quickly. The one three-day game there will be important for him before the first Test."

Fletcher was also upbeat about Ishant Sharma, who was among the players who departed early for Australia. "He has had a nice rest. He was totally free from injury when he finished the Test match in Mumbai [against West Indies]. He has gone out there fresh. It is important that they have little breaks between series. Everything that we have heard so far is that they are ready to go."

Though seamers Praveen Kumar and Varun Aaron will be missing the tour due to injury, Dhoni was optimistic about the chances of his bowling attack. "If you see the injury list, it is quite blank as of now. More often than not, [of the] the 15 or 16 who are selected [in the squad] everybody will be ready for selection [in the XI]. That takes a bit of pressure off and you need not worry about the playing XI that much as most of the players get their berths on merit.

"Apart from that, the batting line-up is quite the same. Bowling-wise, Zaheer is back. We have got Umesh Yadav who can bowl over 140kph. I think it looks like a good pack."

Dhoni said he was not worried about the fact that only two of his bowlers had played more than 15 Tests as it was more important to have in-form bowlers than experienced ones.

"R Ashwin has just made his debut in the series against West Indies while Harbhajan Singh has played in 98 Test matches and is one of the leading wicket-takers for India," Dhoni said. "Nobody knew what Ashwin can do. But he ended up winning the Man-of-the-Series in the Tests. This is something that Duncan said that we have to be careful about. Just because the big names are not there, it does not mean the bowling attack is weak. Even when Shane Warne or Glenn McGrath made their debut they started from zero wickets. You may be having a [potentially] great bowler, who may be just starting his career and playing the first few games."

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