21 February,2009 01:14 PM IST | | PTI
To fulfill its commitment of arranging a warm-up match for Indian players before the first Test, New Zealand Cricket is mulling sending them to different provinces for practice.
India had agreed to extend their Test series from two to three matches on the request of NZC and in lieu of that they had demanded some practice for the players, who were not part of the ODI squad.
Six Indian players - Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Amit Mishra, Murali Vijay, Dhawal Kulkarni and Laxmipathi Balaji - are expected to play in New Zealand's domestic circuit before the first Test, beginning March 18.
NZC Chief executive Justin Vaughan said they were making plans to fulfill their commitment. "India have bent over backwards to accommodate our wish for three Tests so we have to give them some warm-up. I said to them, 'We won't leave you in the lurch, we will give you some decent warm-up,' and one way or the other we will honour that," Vaughan said.
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"Dravid & Co are pencilled in to play the State Championship round that runs from March 6 till March 9. Which side they played in would either be a "contestable process" or made by 'random allocation'," Vaughan was quoted as saying by the Dominion Post.
Vaughan said it was NZC's duty to make such an arrangement as part of the deal with the BCCI. New Zealand Cricket had faced criticism for agreeing to arrange a practice match for England between the first and second Tests for swing bowler James Anderson, last summer.
"This is slightly different because it is almost a deal to get them here for three tests. I wish there was a better way to do it, we are still evaluating the options.
"We haven't reached a final decision on it it will probably be next week. My board is considering it at the moment and I've talked briefly to the major associations about it. I understand if there is some opposition to it," he said.
Vaughan also dismissed allegations that they were arranging the practice to please the cash-rich BCCI. "Put that to one side. We had an agreement when we put to them the schedule for three tests that we would give them adequate warm-up. Irrespective of their position in world cricket, I just feel that is the right thing to do," he contended.
