India will face New Zealand in the first Test of a three Test series at Motera, Ahmedabad starting on Thursday, November 4. Indians are on a three match winning streak with a win against Sri Lanka and two at home against the Australians. 
The New Zealanders come into the series after a pasting they received from the Bangladeshis. They lost the five match ODI series 4-0 and were horribly out of depth in all departments.
India were in great form in the series against Australia, getting a close win in the first game and then romping home style with a lot to spare in the second Test. The same side has been retained for this series as well. Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara who made telling contributions in the second Test against Australia will have to give way for Gautam Gambhir and VVS Laxman in the starting XI. 
The bowling attack that was criticized so much in the series against Sri Lanka came back strongly in the last series. Zaheer Khan showed how big a threat he can be when the ball is reverse swinging. Pragyan Ojha was a perfect foil for Harbhajan Singh and will once again be the key bowler in this series.
The New Zealanders will be very low on confidence and their batting line up lacks a grafter who can steady the innings in tough conditions. Brendon McCullum gave up the keeping duties to concentrate on his batting and will be New Zealand’s key batsman. Gareth Hopkins will take the gloves from him. The bowling attack too lacks bite and experience with the exception of captain Daniel Vettori, who will be playing his hundredth Test for New Zealand.
Chris Martin will open the bowling for the Kiwis but this is his first tour of India. He has not been in good form of late, picking only 16 wickets in his last six Tests.
The pressure is high on New Zealand as they face a strong and in form Indian team. They are the clear underdogs and a draw would be a good result for them.