The biggest threat to Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men in this second of the short two-Test series will emanate from the weather and not the rivals.

Having been instilled the fear of god in eight of their last nine Tests, the Indians are totally at home, comfortable in the knowledge that in alien conditions there is not much this New Zealand side can do.

The damage to the visitors’ psyche is already done and down 0-1 in the series, Ross Taylor’s outfit will have to do all the running to stop India from blanking them in the second Test beginning here on Friday.

New Zealand, by nature, have never been known to intimidate their opponents in the longer version and it’s little wonder that their successes have been few and far in between.

For sure, they have a wealth of talent in the young side, packed with seamers spearheaded by the indefatigable Chris Martin, who has soldiered on over the last 12 years and is certainly on his last tour on Indian soil.

Having said that, Martin, 37, himself has played just 70 Tests since his debut in 2000 and it just goes to show that Test match ratio is probably skewered when it comes to Kiwi cricket.

Given the scenario, Taylor will be looking to Martin and his bunch of fast bowlers in Doug Bracewell and Boult with James Franklin chipping in and hopefully exploit the conditions which appear favourable to the men who bend their backs.

While Dhoni felt the pitch was hard on the outside, Taylor was guarded in his approach, unwilling to get carried away by the greenish tinge.

A generous cloud cover, a benign pitch which hasn’t received enough sunshine owing to thunderstorms over the past one week has left the outcome of the match on knife’s edge.

In any other part of the world, it could put a spring in the fast bowlers’ steps but traditionally, the Chinnaswamy wicket hasn’t been all that helpful to the breed who bowl in excess of 130mph.

We will not take Kiwis lightly: Dhoni

For Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the convincing victory at Hyderabad might have come as a huge relief. The Indian skipper is ushering in a new season with hope, if not too much promise - especially with calibre of Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman missing from their ranks.

The scars of two overseas drubbing — England and Australia — still remain fresh in the memory. And as he awaits the ‘big two’, one later this year and the other early next year, Dhoni has to make sure that he is battle-ready for India’s two nemesis in the recent past.

The emphatic win over New Zealand in the first Test inside four days sets up the season perfectly for the hosts, even though the inexperienced Kiwis do not pose the stiffest of challenges.

On the eve of the second Test, Dhoni firmly ruled any chances for experiments — like ruling out possibility of pushing Virender Sehwag down the batting order, which the opener had wished to not long ago. Or for that matter, giving a Test debut to Ajinkiya Rahane.

The Indian skipper also emphasised that a good start is only half the job done and expected the same kind of ruthlessness they showed in the first Test.

“We don’t want to be over-confident. That has never been the case with us. We are a team which respects the opponents, wherever we are playing and that’s one good thing with us.

So whatever right things we did in the first Test we have to repeat everything here. We have to try and stick to the basics and keep it simple.

So we don’t want to complicate too much,” the skipper said, meaning they meant business over the next five days.

Dhoni himself would know that his contribution with the bat is quite essential, if India is to climb from fifth spot in the Test rankings.

And he acknowledged the role that he needs to play. “Somebody needs to bat with the tail-enders. If the last three or four batsmen contribute it can be very frustrating for the opponents and at the same time you add some valuable runs on the total.

That will be my role. The No. 6 (Suresh Raina) will have to bat with the tail-enders and get as many runs as possible,” noted Dhoni, who came up with 73 at Hyderabad.