Christchurch: More than the opponents it's the challenging cold conditions that will test Indian players when they take on New Zealand in the Davis Cup Asia Oceania Group I tie here.


India's Somdev Devvarman and Rohan Bopanna during their Davis Cup World Group tie vs Serbia in 2011 

The winner will advance to September's World Group play-offs. India start as favourites against the Kiwis. The temperature is hovering around 5 to 7 degrees and Indian players are not used to such extreme weather even though the matches will be played indoors at the Wilding Park Tennis Centre.