By Mark Richardson New Zealand batsman in India

Sportsmen at the elite level tend to thrive on a good challenge - and a tour to India is certainly a challenge.

Skipper Stephen Fleming has a tough job ahead of him

It is also one of the last frontiers for New Zealand cricket as we've never won a Test series here.

Having been around the Test scene for some time now, there aren't too many firsts to achieve any longer.

But given I'm getting greyer and balder with each ball faced, I'm keen to take the opportunity on this tour to be a part of another great moment in my country's cricket history.

Speaking of firsts, it is the first tour for our new manager, Lindsay Crocker - talk about being thrown in the deep end.

India is a fascinating place. From a cricket perspective it is a challenging, yet learning environment, from a management perspective you can double the challenge.

Everyone knows it's hot and you must live off naan bread and tikka masala for a couple of months but the real challenge is being faced with a billion cricket fanatics all wanting to see and talk to an international cricketer.

The people are very friendly and all want to help out, but throw in enthusiasm and energy to burn and the manager can really have his hands full.

The lobby of the team hotel is always packed

Media interest is frenzied and administrators all want their function in the sun, the phone systems can be a bit iffy and travelling a major strategic operation.

The manager not only has to keep the players happy - and we are not easy to please - but it would appear all of India as well.

Crocks was a pretty handy top order batsman for Northern Districts, he then went on to become Auckland Cricket's chief executive and now he has the top job with the Black Caps.

If this is to be a great first for us then we have one major hurdle to overcome; flat wickets.

We stitched the Indians up in New Zealand last time on green seaming tracks, but I don't think we are going to get too many juicy ones for our medium pacers over here.

Low turners are on the menu and I bet Tendulkar, Ganguly, Dravid and co are itching for pay back time.

Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh will be a threat

Spinner Dan Vettori is obviously crucial for us and will need to come up with the goods if we are to enjoy success, especially as we are without Shane Bond.

Bondy's pace makes him a factor on any surface and provides real strike power for us.

It is therefore time for young Ian Butler to show he has matured from his tough start in Test cricket and can now spearhead an international bowling attack in the most challenging of surroundings.