New Zealand's A cricketers, who begin their participation in India's Buchi Babu tournament tomorrow, have adopted the slogan "India is cricket's classroom" for their campaign.

Many of the players have a rare chance to experience sub-continent conditions as preparation for their possible participation in New Zealand's tour of Pakistan starting next month, but also for the development of individual skills in foreign conditions.

Coach Ashley Ross said while the accepted formula of developing physical strength was to overload the body and then recover, the side was also looking to get stronger in its mental approach by applying similar principles.

"The opportunities to do that will get better the further we go in the tournament," he said.

New Zealand plays a Mumbai XI in their first match. Indian Test players Ajit Agarkar, Nilesh Kulkarni and Paras Mhambrey are expected to be in the Mumbai side.

Ross said he had been impressed with the effort the New Zealanders had been putting in to prepare for the tournament.

"We have been mindful of the heat and the players have been hydrating well and minding their personal hygiene. We have had some useful net bowlers too.

"It has been good to see the ball coming out of Indian hands.

"We are as well prepared as we can be. We have been focused on getting used to the different conditions and there has been a really good environment around the team," he said.

The main thing before the first game was to make sure the players didn't try too hard to make an impression to be selected for the first game. It was all about getting to the line fresh and not over-tired, he said.

One of the concerns of the tournament organisers has been the threat of the onset of monsoonal rains but while there were overcast skies, the temperatures were in the mid-30s and very humid.

Ross said the feeling was the rains would hold off until next month.

The pitch for the first game looked a good one, relative to Indian conditions, with some pace and some spin.

The tournament represented a great chance for players to get to grips with conditions before the Pakistan tour.

Chief among these was opener Mark Richardson, New Zealand's most successful Test batsman last summer. He is also in contention with team captain Matthew Bell and Matthew Horne who is attempting to regain his Test berth after suffering illness and injury last year.

Joseph Yovich and Shane Bond, the two non-internationals in the side, had impressed Ross with their work ethic in training while leg-spinner Brooke Walker had been making huge progress in conditions more favoured to his type of bowling.

"He's been investigating the art of his game here in conditions more suitable than South Africa and England, where he toured last year. He's been looking at the pace he bowls and for more opportunities and even in the two or three days bowling here he has worked hard which will be valuable to his development," Ross said.

Kyle Mills, Lou Vincent and Jacob Oram were all showing the benefits of their recent play in Sri Lanka with New Zealand. Vincent and Mills were looking forward to significant tours on the back of their experiences in the Coca-Cola Cup, while Oram would be an interesting prospect, especially with his height allied to the pace at which he bowled, Ross added.

The whole set-up for the tournament was hugely encouraging and the side knew it faced a real battle if it was to make it through to the final.

The tournament is a knockout event. If New Zealand A was to go all the way it would have to win three games to qualify for the final.

Once the tournament is completed, the side travels to Hyderabad for a one-day tournament based on similar lines. That tournament ends on September 14.

In the event of the New Zealanders being knocked out early in either tournament, other games have been arranged.

The New Zealand A side is: Matthew Bell (captain, Wellington), Mark Richardson (Otago), Matthew Horne (Otago), Lou Vincent (Auckland), Hamish Marshall (Northern Districts), Glen Sulzberger (Central Districts), Jacob Oram (Central Districts), Kyle Mills (Auckland), Chris Nevin (Wellington), Brooke Walker (Auckland), Paul Wiseman (Otago), Joseph Yovich (Northern Districts), Chris Drum (Auckland), Shane Bond (Canterbury).

© CricInfo