Sourav Ganguly has said that his batsmen are under pressure to deliver in the third one-day international against New Zealand on New Year's Day. "It's high time the batsmen scored runs," Ganguly said. "Most of the batsmen have been out of form on this tour, but we have to find some ways to score runs. The bottom line is we have not scored runs in Tests and one-dayers."

India have yet to win a match on their current tour. They trail 2-0 in the seven-match one-day series and lost both the Tests inside three days on seamer-friendly pitches.

India were let down by batting in both the Tests and one-dayers as they crossed the 200-mark just once, in the last game at Napier on Sunday. Most of their batsmen are still struggling to cope with the New Zealand pace attack.

Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid scored only one half-century apiece in four Test innings, while Virender Sehwag smashed an impressive 108 in the previous game after five failures. Ganguly himself is short of runs, having made 29 in four Test innings and 14 in two one-dayers.

"We are going through a tough time at present," said Ganguly. "Pressure is always there. Sometimes, it looks surprising that we are the same team that did so well in the past eight-nine months.

"At least three of our seven batsmen should score big in an innings, but that's not happening. Sehwag is the only one who has a big score to his credit."

India also felt Tendulkar's absence in the first two games as the middle order looked shaky against a tidy New Zealand pace attack. "He is fit," Ganguly said of Tendulkar, who suffered an ankle injury while bowling in the nets before the opening match at Auckland.

Ganguly did not believe that all was lost for his team. "It's a new day tomorrow," he said. "There's still a lot of cricket left in the series and we'll try to do our best in the remaining matches. I hope it'll be a different show tomorrow."

Meanwhile, the Indian team management requested its cricket board to send batsman Dinesh Mongia for the current series. Nathu Ram Chaudhary, the manager, said, "The idea is that he plays a few matches before the World Cup."

Meanwhile Stephen Fleming, New Zealand's captain, said that his team was keen to make winning a habit ahead of the World Cup. "I won't say it [winning] is a habit, but we are on our way to making it a habit. We are consistent at the moment and keen to maintain it with a win tomorrow," said Fleming.

New Zealand rested strike bowler Shane Bond for the second successive match and included seamer Michael Mason. "Shane has a slight side strain and it was thought best to rest him as a precautionary measure," said Jeff Crowe, New Zealand's manager.

Teams
New Zealand (from) Stephen Fleming (capt), Nathan Astle, Mathew Sinclair, Craig McMillan, Lou Vincent, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum (wk), Kyle Mills, Daniel Vettori, Daryl Tuffey, Paul Hitchcock, Michael Mason.

India (from) Sourav Ganguly (capt), Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid (wk), Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Mohammad Kaif, Yuvraj Singh, Sanjay Bangar, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Javagal Srinath, Ashish Nehra, Ajit Agarkar, Anil Kumble, Parthiv Patel (wk), Rakesh Patel.

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