New Zealand tour would be exciting: Dhoni

Mumbai: Mahendra Singh Dhoni feels the upcoming New Zealand tour will be a good exposure trip for the young Indian team ahead of the 2015 World Cup scheduled be held down under.

Team India leaves for New Zealand; to play 2 Tests, 5 ODIs

“The grounds in New Zealand are small and their shapes are quite unusual. It takes time to get used to it. Some of the matches could be high-scoring, especially with new rules in place. But it also depends on wickets. New Zealand have good talent and are doing well in home conditions. It will be an exciting series,” Dhoni added.

India’s recent tour of South Africa was a big disappointment, but the skipper brushed aside the team’s away blues. “We have done well in West Indies, New Zealand and even in the previous tour of South Africa (2010-11). It is (lions at home and lambs abroad) just a tagline associated with us because we lost in England and Australia. In SA we did well in Tests recently. It was just a bad session of two hours and 30 minutes that cost us the series,” he said.

Dhoni said there was no need to change the nature of wickets in India to prepare for overseas tours. “It is important to hold on to our heritage and take home advantage. We should be proud of what we have but as a team we should improve to give good fight abroad,” he said.

Dhoni said both ODI and Test squads are well-settled units. “I would like to improve my performances especially abroad. But, if I lose batsmen at the other end I tend to go for shots. I want at least 30-50 runs more from the tailenders. They have to contribute by hanging around with Ajinkya Rahane or me,” he said.