I won't say "Let your team win" as I am an Indian. But I will say "Have a good game(but please lose)". I hope the weather wpn't play spoilsport.

Well mate wish you luck in tomorrow night’s Twenty20.Hope you get the wicket of the openers as Dan hope to put on some pressure on to the Indian Middle order batsman.Lets see whether if Guptil can continue from where he left off in the last Twenty20 match ,but he will be up some good pace blokes to stifle his run makin..whats the buzz with Ross Taylor ..is he fit or owuld he need more time out...

Hi Oba,

good to read your blog and keep up to date with NZ & Wellington cricket.

Any chance of county cricket this summer mate ? especially if you could get a few games in at Headingley. should suit you down to the ground.

Shame about the Aus series, I thought that NZ were good for the series.

Will be watching the 20/20's this week. Good luck and probably see you in the summer.

Cheers Mini

hey great man.
this is the first time i ever read any cricketers blog.i m indian and die hard cricket fan n player.loved your blog.will visit often

go kiwis... its all new faces in side but you have much power to show what you are and I believe NZ will lead all format of games..best of luck

its cool

Hi Ian, i anticipate this tour to be a very exciting one as both the sides are surrounded by pretty awesome talent.Let me tell you that i am a crazy indian fan and hope it turns out to be an exciting series for both India and New Zealand.
Looking forward to your blog as it's always a great time to spend reading your blog..
Thanks.

Please tell Brendon McCullum I'm still waiting for him to e-mail the picture his parents took of us at Hard Rock Cafe in Fiji.

Referring to the earlier part of the article, I think its true that temperatures below 20c can be pretty uncomfortable for us Indians. Not that we don't get to see such conditions here, 'cause we do. Sometime from Dec 1 to Jan 15, the whole of North India experiences much lower temperatures. And may be matches at venues like Delhi and Mohali would help. (If the fog permits i.e.) But we have hardly ever had any team touring India during that time... Anyways, hope Dhoni and boys make their presence felt on the field on Wednesday. GO India GO!!! :)

Hai Brian,
What is your bowling strategy for the Indians,any thoughts on bowling to Sachin Tendulkar?

Ian, you don't have a chance in hell against us Indians; I'll tell you why. Man, you're a Blogger. I mean, tomorrow, when you're tearing in to bowl your first ball, you'll be thinking that you look like a lithe, power-packed, all muscle and guts, picture-of-intimidation, Fast Bowler, who creates doubts in the minds of the Batsmen. You'll probably think that noise you just heard is the Batsman's bottoms squeaking out of fear. But then, reality will prove to be different, as it often does. Sehwag will take one look at you and recognize you as that pasty Blogger who pretend to be a Cricketer; he’ll maul you, grab your entrails and squeeze the smelly stuff out of them. It’s not like he’s going to think, “Oh! I better not step out against this guy, or he’s going to Blog about me, gulp!” You’re finished man; the Indians are going to hit you all around the park. It’s a shame your performance won’t be anything to write home about, but, you’ll still have plenty to write about. Dig irony, Ian?

kiwis look in awesome form!!
i bet that they are gonna thrash the Indians.

We are very enjoying the Cricinfo. The world famous website so we hope more & more excitei of in this site.
MA hassan Bangladesh.

Watch out buddy. Sehwag is going to murder the kiwis bowling. I will be dying to read your blogs after you leak more than 5 runs per over.

Actually, your late out swingers may trouble Sehwag BUT Gambhir will just pounce on the hapless NZ bowling. A beautiful country with beautiful people BUT rubbish bowling

hats of to cricinfo.com and Ian himself for making this blog a must read for cricket fans.

Ian O' Brien, please consider this as a good sledge:-). Indians will dominate the kiwis.. Cold weather or not, the likes of Sehwag and Laxman will feast on whatever you guys can offer.

I love watching games played in NZ. I even watched Gayle hit Mills into the stands!

A fantastic watching it will be. Go India!! Watch out Ian, Sachin just drove the ball past you and you couldn't even see it :-).

Go India! Good luck Ian..

-Shruthi

Ian Who ?

Two words mate. Bowl short.

Hi lian
Gud blog !.hope you write more about indian players and the way fans chasing them.y in Nz cricket players dont have celebrity status unlike in india and england.i think you people really miss my favourite player the bond,shane bond.lucky indians.gud luck have a nice series.
Omar,dubai

Help poor OB out and click on his adverts, at least keep the sponsors happy while he's getting pumped around the park!

Geez lots of Indians here, good stuff though just dont listen to that UberMetroMallu dude hes crazy if he thinks this series is going to be one-sided. Both teams are in good form and I highly doubt it will be a one-sided affair. I really do believe NZ will win the one-day series so please don't prove me wrong LOL. Go Kiwis!

You gotta love a cocky Indian and judging from the comments here (and those of Dhoni et al) they are cockahoop about their chances. Funny, so were the Australians...
Just remember to bowl your lines and don't be put off by the diamond earrings and car dealerships bats!

New Zealand and England have shown indifference to cricket matches against India in the past - My solution - India should thrash New Zealand 5-0 in ODIs and 3-0 in Tests - that's the way to tame the indifference and apathy towards India

we are the Oscar winners - we are cricket winners and we are Nobel Winners

Thanks for all the comments, especially the one where my Sehwag will 'grab and squeeze my entrails'; mate, you need some help!!

Looking forward to an great series...

Iain

Hey Iain,
You da man, don't listen to all that sledging. It'll be hard work but I know you're up to it, man it must be exciting bowling to some of the greats like sachin and rahul!
Keep that deep point and 3rd man out for sehwag!

I am an Indian fan but some of the pro-Indian posters are too over the top. There is no need to demean Iain O'Brien or NZ cricket. Sure India has a great side and should prevail if they want to maintain their status but that does not mean NZ are not without a chance. NZ played really well in Australia. It should be a contest for the ages, since both teams are ascending towards a peak - one team will keep rising, the other will fall back.

I think the keys are who plays as the 3rd seamer for India ...... Zaheer and Ishant are class, will the 1st change keep the pressure or provide less of a challenge. For NZ it is all about fitness of Ryder and Oram, especially if Oram can bowl 15-20 overs a day that is a real boon. Also NZ will have to watch Vettori's workload, he can only be Superman for so long!

I wish New Zealand all the best for this series, but seriously man, NZ's team is very young and would be very surprised if I see anything other than an Indian win. With that being said I feel that the series will be very competetive and it would be real fun to watch Dhoni & his men acclimatise the New Zealand conditions while the Kiwis push for a series win.
Looking forward to this one

I wish New Zealand all the best for this series, but seriously man, NZ's team is very young and would be very surprised if I see anything other than an Indian win. With that being said I feel that the series will be very competetive and it would be real fun to watch Dhoni & his men acclimatise the New Zealand conditions while the Kiwis push for a series win.
Looking forward to this one

You are too good a bowler to be bowling at first change in tests. I saw you bowling in Bangladesh and you were swinging the ball prodigiously on fairly sluggish tracks. Do me a favor beat India.

Hey Iain, I have to agree with your last comment... it's okay to have passion for your team, but that's just insane!

Hope all goes well in Christchurch, and I can't wait to see you opening the bowling in the cake tin on Friday.

Reece

hey ian, dont take us indian fans too seriously man. some of us just take the game a bit too seriously and forget what its really about. life in india is a rat race and its only natural for every indian to be really competitive. i live in auckland now and wouldnt go back for the world. i love how peaceful it is here and i play for new lynn. have a great series!!

ahaha yea i thought that one was hillarious too,
bet he got really excited when he was writing it.
looking forward to you shattering his dreams, should be a great series, 20 20's are a bit of fun but i think well smash them 4 - 1 in the ODI's
hopefully can carry form into the tests and i kow we have the team to at least win one of the tests but tough ask against who id say are equally the best test line up wiht a surprisingly formidable SA team.
great to have the Indians back again, go the black caps!

Ive heard of fanatical supporters but some of the comments on this are kind of offensive. Ian proved last year hes a class act and finished in the top three on the averages list in bowling for the year(correct me if im wrong maybe top 5). I am a New Zealander and i believe you will win, but do so with grace and dignity, not with such dishonor. We are a small country, 4 million people, you have over a billion, your country has a lake of depth in your domestic circuit while we have a puddle, and if India cant beat us, then you are no where near the top team in the world.

Obviously some people do not read the posting guidelines below.

Anyway all the best Iain for the upcoming series should be really good. Especially looking forward to the games in Welly as I will be there with bells on. I don't think much more analysis is needed of the series, go hard!

By the way, was really impressed with the pace that you were getting in Oz, some of the balls were reading at a bit over 140kmph.

Good luck mate

Chill out you indian fans. I think its a different perspective that Iain brings to the table as a cricketer. Ubermallu man, Why such derisive comments about a "class act"? In fact I would go so far to wager that you probably have never seen the guy bow1! This ones for RaviBalke -Please leave such psuedo patriotic sentiments out of the discussion - "our" winning at the OScars has nothing to do with cricket - so get over it mate!
I wish Iain and the rest of Kiwis will provide some exciting cricket and prove Mark richardson completely wrong - Please dont roll over!!

Well Iain, you must already know, what you are up against. Comments from a few Indians are effects of the previous NZ tour. Hope Team India also wants to get back some pride they lost during that tour.
Expecting a evenly fought T20 and ODI series.
All the best and Have fun.

I am a big fan of Indian cricket but some of these comments are just ridiculous,NZ at home and even abroad are a very resilent team and we should do best to remember the conditions are not perfect for sehwag to go on the rampage( though I wont complain if he does) .Ian though I would be seriously hoping to see no wickets or economical overs from you during the course of this series,I hope you provide us with a memorable series,there is no doubt about your caliber as well the caliber of the NZ players as they are team which best embodies the aspect of teamwork

May the best team win

listen to all the indians! sehwag's gonna hit you all over the park! how about a bit of repect towards a international cricketer thats not indian!!! (they say us aussies are bad sports but have a read of what you indians are writting!!!) ian good luck mate in making some of these ill informed people eat humble pie! this is the perfect time for you to get a phsycological edge on sehwag and make him your bunny something along the lines of warne v cullen! he'll be going for you but unlike his play ground the sub continent your kiwi wickets allow seam movement and who better to bowl well on them than a kiwi quick. im confident you'll get him nicking into brendon's gloves in no time!!! good luck mate!

I just watched Iain get his 2nd wicket!! yeah man that was nice. Sehwag looked dangerous but he got a bit carried away I think.

OK, I apologize for my earlier post. But, I blame John Wright for all this. During his years in India, I saw him smile on TV once – I swear, I am not making this up – and assumed that the Kiwis had a Sense of Humour. I shouldn’t have made sweeping generalisations based on one instance, sorry.
In all seriousness though, I really didn’t expect anyone to be insulted by my over-the-top verbiage; I thought it was hyperbole for all to see! Anyway, I’m sorry if I came across as a boor. That was never my intention. I did not mean to insult Ian; and like many have mentioned, it’s his profession and perhaps I should have been more careful in my choice of words. Good luck Ian. Peace everyone.

Iain, please ignore some of these comments. I just had to comment to let you know that not all of us Indians are such blowhards. Most of us are looking forward to what promises to be an awesome series. Hopefully you will keep blogging about it!

Well bowled Ian...despite going on for nine runs per over ..u picked up vital two wickets of Indian Opener...match is completely balanced..Let's see who wins..but don't forget to giv ur post match comments.. I would be eagerly waiting for u !!!

Congrats! on gettting the opening wicket and finsihing on the winning side...guptil seems in good form ...lets see how the next T20 goes..

Hi Iain,
Just finished watching the scorecard tick over on my computer while I fed the kids dinner. Great work bowling both openers, another feather in the cap. I think India and Sth Africa are the teams to beat at the moment but in the shorter formats you guys are right up there. It is great to see that the NZ top order woes of only a year ago are all but gone. The selectors seem to have done the right thing sticking with young talented players through thick and thin. Baz, Ryder and Guptill in the top three, backed up by Taylor, with Elliott, Oram, Broom and Vettori still to come is actually quite intimidating. Throw some great pace bowling in (you) and some sensational swing from Southee and it is no wonder you outperformed Australia in the Chappell Hadlee series. Hey, the Indians are good. Judging by the previous comment they do not mind saying so either. Just keep in mind that you guys are at the top of your game and performing against legends. It is a good time to support NZ!

Hi Iain,

I am from Nepal and die hard West Indian fan. I followed your blogs thoughout the West Indies series. The best thing about you is you are never shy in praising the opposition team and player. That brings enough respect for you.

And I really like how you have kept your cool to the abusive posts. All I can say is that last year many Indian fans were too busy with their teams performance against Australia and England. Many Indian fan don't know that you took 38 wickets last year at an average of 21. Which is better than performance than Ishant Sharam who took 38 wickets at an average of 31 or Zaheer khan who took 27 wicket at an average of 37. It is a right time to enlighten them. Although I feel bowling challanges for you may be little hard because of the quality of Indian batsman. But I am sure you will come out with flying colours.

Congrats on winning the first T20... that was truly wonderful performance... Especially by you getting both the "dangerous openers" wicket. if one of them could have stayed on the wicket till 15th over the score would have past 200 runs...

Iain,

Could you possibly bowl a little slower and let the ball swing like Richard Hadlee used to do? Congrats on winning and the 2 clean bowled wickets. Can't wait for the 2nd match. Damn match starts at 1 AM in the USA.

"Thanks for all the comments, especially the one where my Sehwag will 'grab and squeeze my entrails'"
What better way to answer that than castle the man himself! (where you thinking about that comment when ya got him?)Great job Iain, hope to see more of that disciplined line and length bowling!

Fantastic game, won comfortably in the end really, anyone who thinks India ran us close need to realise we let Mccullum drop anchor for a small target, and we still had firepower to come. In responce to ubermallu we have a sense of humour, but before every series and after every indian win some indian fans claim they are number one, the rest of the world are chumps etc etc and considering how rarked you got about australian fans doing the same thing its a bit hypocritical. It looks like were in for an awesome tour though, india wont like being beaten and we can still put up a fight, i was at the game and when we on like 10 off three overs and guptill was on 1 off ten balls i was nervous that we were psyched out or something.

Great game last night. Must have felt pretty good to take the stumps from two of the best batsmen around. Really looking forward to getting along to the next match in Welly - here's hoping you can complete the hattrick this time!

UberMetroMallu, loved your first comment and its all the better alfter Ian delt to the openers you so glowingly boasted about! this is what cricket is all about, as long as you give cudos when its due sledging is all good, as long as no one sinks as low as the terbinator and starts getting racial :)
looking forward to the rest of the series, hopefully sewag and gambi dont get gunshy and keep swinging cause its contageous, the more six's the better, sorry Ian.
was also good to see the kiwi's all bowling at Pace, three bowlers in the 140's and ian got up to 146 i think? future looks promising.
well better get back to work, keep up the chatter india, it makes victory all the more sweeter!

Congrats Ian, Excellent bowling.
ALL THE BEST for the next match.
Good Luck BlackCaps and Indians.

HAHAHA! Iain, long time reader first time poster. Man, this has been the BEST Blog response yet!! Just cracks me up all these amazingly aggressive Indian supporters...and then absolutely NOTHING posted after last night comprehensive victory! Where's the "entrails" guy at now?! Hilarious.

Notch one up for the good guys.

Love to hear some more predictions fellow indian supporters? Hows that 5-0 ODI series looking now?...

Hilarious.

well, as i said earlier... NZ did eventually thrash the Indians!!
Just remember one thing... gotta keep your head down now OB & the same goes for rest of your team-mates. I want to see a good tight contest...
If you guys perform like you did the other night, it could really be a great fun to watch!!
...& oh yes, beware of Sehwag!! He is known to blast the bowlers who`ve dismissed him in the match before!!
Now, as i see it... Indians will win this time around...i bet you guys just fired them up!!!!
Good Luck.....

oh, and just to add a word... i`m feeling so heart-broken having missed this opportunity to watch the match in stadium!! My visa just couldn`t come through in time!!!!
For me watching it on TV sucks... i prefer to keep abreast through cricinfo...so, thank you guys!!

Ah! so you are the guy who bowled so well yesterday...Nobody in family knew anything about you untill yesterday...I bet by the end of this season you will be a household name in India.
And yes..tommorow India will come back hard :)

it might seem funny coming from an indian fan, but i have been a long time fan of the nz team. they have managed to make it to the knock-out stages of most world cups and champions trophy in the last 12 years and punch above their weight proving that the total can be more than the parts...unfortunately india-newzealand play each other once in a blue moon. both teams are no. 3 and 4 in the odis on the rankings and are on an upward spiral. so limited overs games should be great to watch! hope both teams play well and may the better team win!

hey lain,
impressed with your incisive bowling.heard a lot about u from friends but yesterday saw u r even better. indians r very strong side but not strong enough to beat u in those windy conditions.
new comers like u , Butler and Guptil r future of new zealand cricket.
best of luck , and remember this is from an indian fan.

Mean as bro!! Seriously your playing so awes..was neat to watch you smash those wickets to the ground!! Keep it up dude, dont get intimated by the indians status. :)

wats the fun if there is no chirping on the field between the players and off the field between the fans?
alright, my scoreline: ODIs india 5-0, the tests india whitewash NZ.
btw, you have angered the team india, now they will make this series that much more painfull for the kiwis.
maybe, the t20 defeat was the 'kick in a$$' that was needed for the indian team to make them hungry for victory in rest of the series

oh, ian....well played.
and your performance in first match should merit a man-of-the-match award. had you not taken the sehwag's wicket, bredon would have been chasing 200 or more. I think you bowled slower off-cutter or some such variation to take sehwag's wicket.

anyway, most of you guys are new to this indian team, but once they sort you out, you guys are in for some real pounding. we have already seen glimpses of it.
the best bet for the kiwis is the climate, the colder the better.

nice pics