Fleming says up to Indian batsmen to prove their world-class

Batsmen had to be able to show they could handle New Zealand conditions before they could be regarded as world-class.

TelstraClear Black Caps captain Stephen Fleming's pre-second National Bank Test comment today was an obvious barb in the direction of the much-vaunted Indian batsmen as they try to knock New Zealand off their perch as the third-ranked nation on the International Cricket Council's Test Championship ladder.

India folded twice for 161 and 121 runs in the first Test at the Basin Reserve when the game finished in less than three days. Only Rahul Dravid in the first innings and Sachin Tendulkar in the second lived up to anything like their formidable reputations.

Fleming commented on the changed nature of Test pitches in New Zealand.

Fleming has been a strong advocate for the removal of the low, slow Test pitches that were so long associated with New Zealand.

With the introduction of portable pitches for Tests at rugby-playing grounds in Christchurch and Auckland, and the revitalised pitches of Hamilton, Wellington and Dunedin, bounce had become much more common in New Zealand.

And Fleming welcomed that because it brought New Zealand more in line with Australia and South Africa, the two countries ahead of it on the ICC ladder.

He made no apologies for the visiting teams having to cope with the greater bounce in New Zealand.

"The challenge is for the players to get better. You say you've got some of the best batsmen in the world but if you can't play on all types of wickets then are you the best batsmen in the world?" he asked.

Fleming said that if a particular style was developed in New Zealand then it was up to teams coming here to adjust. It was a requirement of New Zealand's players also to get better in the conditions.

"Look, we're not experts at playing on a green, seaming wicket - no-one is, so we don't doctor wickets that way," he said.

But for a player to be regarded as a world-class player he would have to show his stuff in New Zealand.

"We know when we go to India, we have to adjust to slower turning wickets and that's just as big a challenge, moreso in some instances, than playing on a good bouncy wicket.

"So it's all about adapting and that is the challenge of playing away from home - making that adaptation and putting pressure on the opposition.

"These are our home conditions, nothing untoward has gone on. We do want bounce, I love to see bounce. I don't hide that fact," he said.

The problem this year was that due to the wet spring and early summer it has been fresh bounce rather than good, solid bounce, as Fleming put it.

"If it gets sunlight on it, then it will be great," he said.

And therein lies the requirement for this match to satisfy the requirements of both sides and to make it a genuine five-day contest.