Tinu Yohannan could replace Ashish Nehra for the second and final Test at Hamilton, according to John Wright, India's team coach. News agencies reported Wright's comments after he had watched Yohannan trouble the Indian batsmen, including Sourav Ganguly, in a rigorous four-hour pitch session today at Wellington, in what was to be the fourth day of the Test that India stunningly lost in less than eight sessions of play.

"That's one good thing about this [practice] session," said Wright, after watching Yohannan beat fellow team-mates for pace and bounce on a fourth-day pitch. "He's making great strides, and he's done a lot since he's been out of the side."

Ganguly and VVS Laxman struggled against Yohannan, and so did Mohammed Kaif, the other middle-order batsman in the touring squad. "He bowled well in the warm-up match and it was a difficult decision for this Test. He'll be in the running for the next Test."

Wright added that his batsmen must learn to occupy the crease longer if India has any chance to level the series. "We desperately need to get through this new-ball phase. It's very important because runs could be scored more freely later in the innings as we saw in the game."

Virender Sehwag and Sanjay Bangar failed to provide a solid opening partnership, putting on two runs in the first innings and 23 in the second. "You have got to get through the first hour," Wright emphasised. "It's a matter of getting in and judging the line, letting the ball go and getting a real feel of the wicket.

The New Zealand selectors, on the other hand, had no worries and announced an unchanged team to play in the Hamilton Test. Richard Hadlee, the chairman of selectors, however wanted more runs from the New Zealand batsmen for a more complete team performance. He warned against complacency.

The two teams decided to remain in Wellington until Monday, the scheduled end of the Test match. The weather today, ironically, was the best of the week, with warm sunshine wasted on a desolate Basin Reserve that otherwise would have had a large Sunday crowd - had the Indian batsmen done more justice to their job.

Teams
New Zealand 1 Mark Richardson, 2 Lou Vincent, 3 Stephen Fleming (capt), 4 Craig McMillan, 5 Nathan Astle, 6 Scott Styris, 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Robbie Hart (wk), 9 Daniel Vettori, 10 Daryl Tuffey, 11 Shane Bond

India (probable) 1 Sanjay Bangar, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Rahul Dravid, 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 Sourav Ganguly (capt), 6 VVS Laxman, 7 Parthiv Patel (wk), 8 Ajit Agarkar, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Tinu Yohannan

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