Zimbabwe will pose an exciting challenge: Dravid

With confidence gained from a spirited series win against Australia, a determined Indian team embarked on a 46-day tour of Zimbabwe early on Friday, raring to break a 15-year jinx of not winning a Test series outside the subcontinent.

The team management comprising coach John Wright, vice-captain Rahul Dravid - skipper Saurav Ganguly was to join the team later tonight - and manager Chetan Chauhan was confident about winning the two-Test series against Zimbabwe and the following triangular one-day tournament with West Indies as the third team.

"The boys are aware that India has not won a series abroad in the past 15 years and they are brimming with confidence to break the jinx," Chauhan told reporters in Mumbai on Thursday. He said the performance in the recent home series against Australia had given them "a much needed boost". Ganguly could not attend the joint press conference as he was held up in Kolkata due to "some personal reasons" and would join the team just before their departure, according to Chauhan.

Dravid said the important thing was a good performance by the team and the rest would take care of itself. "It is important to concentrate on the basic processes without getting unduly excited over the result. Our job is to play good cricket with a positive frame of mind and not to get preoccupied with results", Dravid said.

Wright echoed his views, saying that he does not have a 'magic formula' for the Indian cricket team to win a series abroad and believes the players have to work on their basics to get a positive result. "There is no magic formula in cricket. You have to do what is required at a particular time and play to potential", said Wright. "Execution of genuine play, bowling a good line and length and just doing the basic things right is what all that is needed to win a match or a series", Wright added.

Dravid said "Zimbabwe will pose an exciting challenge. They are a good side and played a good series in India last year. They are a good unit together". On India's failure to win a series on foreign soil for the last 15 years, he said, "certainly the boys are aware of it but they don't think about it. This time we would like to win the series and turn a new page." About the conditioning camp held in Bangalore, Dravid said it was of good quality and added, "the guys put in a lot of hard work and surely there is an increase in their fitness level."

Asked which Zimbabwe players he considered a 'threat' to the Indian team, Wright said "Andy Flower and Heath Streak might pose some threat as both are world class players. However, there is no question of fearing anybody." Commenting on the World Test Championships, both Dravid and Wright said it was a 'good concept' and gave a chance for every team to play each other.