New Delhi: India's women cricket team left for a tour of New Zealand on Monday determined to make amends for the dismal performance by their male counterparts.Saurav Ganguly's men were blanked 2-0 in the recent Test series and went down 5-2 in the One-day Internationals as the highly fancied batsmen were unable to cope with the seaming conditions.The women's team, which takes on England, Australia and the hosts in a Limited Overs tournament from January 26-February 8, was confident it will fare better."There was some fear in our minds regarding the weather and the pitches after seeing our men's team play in New Zealand, but we are expecting better conditions," said captain Anjum Chopra."One did not get a good feeling watching the men being tormented in unfamiliar conditions and on under-prepared pitches."But we are playing only in Christchurch, where the wickets are expected to be better prepared. Hopefully, the weather too would be warmer now."On a recent tour of England, the Indian women were shot out for 26 by world champions New Zealand and for 59 by England in a One-day tournament.The only consolation was a world record individual score of 214 by Mithali Raj in a Test match, and Chopra hoped her team will fare better this time round. "Mithali is a very good player, but the others too will have to chip in," she said.The Indian women beat both Australia and the Kiwis to win the One-day series when they last played in New Zealand in 1995."We have fond memories of New Zealand and hope to make up for our men's losses there," said Chopra, even as the humbled men prepared for next month's World Cup.

Copyright AFP 2001

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India, Australia announce One-day squad for NZ
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