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Harbhajan Singh has said the main reason why India have been able to build on the winning momentum in the recent past is that the players are no more insecure about their place in the side. According to Harbhajan this separates the previous teams he was part of from the one led by MS Dhoni. Harbhajan, who finished the recent New Zealand series as the leading wicket-taker with 16 at 21.37, felt the team management’s belief in the players has helped them counter all sorts of conditions.

The Wellington weather and a Ross Taylor century defied India as the third Test ended in a draw with New Zealand eight wickets down. Zaheer Khan had bowled just one delivery with the second new ball when the rain forced the players off the field 20 minutes after lunch, and they wouldn’t return. India were left to reflect on three dropped catches, while New Zealand might have argued that they were due a bit of luck after two decisions went against them. The draw might have been an unsatisfactory result, but it still sealed a first Indian series win in New Zealand in 41 years.

India’s tail wagged on the first day of the third and deciding Test against New Zealand here on Friday to ensure the tourists reached a respectable 375 for nine at stumps.

Half centuries from captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh in the bottom half of the order added to Sachin Tendulkar’s 95th score over 50 as India recovered from 204 for six soon after tea.

The stakes are high for both teams with India desperate not to squander their 1-0 lead in the three match series and miss out on their first series win in New Zealand since 1968.

The third century of South Africa’s mammoth innings proved the most destructive. On the second evening AB de Villiers had helped take the game away from Australia and today, after steering South Africa through a choppy first session, he grabbed it powerfully. de Villiers’ brilliant, brutal 163, which included four successive sixes off Andrew McDonald, was his third century in six consecutive Tests against Australia – and by far his most audacious – and, along with debutant Albie Morkel’s 58, gave the bowlers ample time to try and wrap up the dead rubber.

It had been 33 years since India won a Test match in New Zealand but the statistic was rendered obsolete after a six-wicket haul from Harbhajan Singh inspired a comprehensive 10-wicket victory at Seddon Park. Daniel Flynn led the defiance with 67 and Brendon McCullum hustled 84 as India eased off after tea. But though the innings defeat was avoided after a 76-run partnership with Iain O’Brien, India needed just 32 balls to knock off the 39 runs needed.

India survived a scare from New Zealand to win a boundary-filled match and take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the series. A serene Sachin Tendulkar played a perfectly-paced innings to score his first ODI century in New Zealand while Yuvraj Singh demolished the attack in a violent knock to power India to 392 for 4. The mammoth score allowed India the room to overcome a tremendous assault led by Jesse Ryder, who hit a sparkling maiden ton, and his 166-run opening partnership with Brendon McCullum, and later soak up the pressure exerted by a frenetic 83-run stand between Kyle Mills and Tim Southee in seven overs.

New Zealand and India adopted different approaches to their innings and in the end it was the host’s more measured and sensible method that prevailed over the visitors’ manic thrash. India’s innings fell away after a blazing start – Virender Sehwag hit his first three balls for sixes – and they needed Suresh Raina’s half-century to lift them from 101 for 7. New Zealand, on the other hand, were guided by opener Brendon McCullum, who batted through the innings while his team-mates forced the pace. McCullum took charge during the final overs, reached his half-century and ensured New Zealand won with seven balls to spare.

Both Mahela Jayawardene and Mahendra Singh Dhoni are expecting the five-ODI contest, which starts on January 28 in Dambulla, to be a closely-fought affair. India edged out Sri Lanka 3-2 in the ODIs during their visit in July-August last year, but the hosts are confident about their prospects after their recent 2-1 success in Pakistan.

“It’s going to be a tough, challenging series but we are looking forward to that challenge,” Jayawardene said. “Things happened for us in Pakistan which is good. We should try and continue that trend.

Ravindra Jadeja’s strong showing in the Ranji Trophy has been rewarded with a maiden call-up to India’s limited-overs side for the tour of Sri Lanka. Medium-pacer Praveen Kumar, who was surprisingly dropped for the home ODIs against England, also makes a return. The selectors have made only two changes from the 15-man squad that took on England in the fourth and fifth ODIs two months ago, with Jadeja and Praveen replacing Harbhajan Singh, who is out with a hamstring injury, and batsman Virat Kohli.

This was a time to boss England, but instead India were forced to scrap. Any thoughts that India had of quickly piling onto to a 151-run lead, taken through Harbhajan Singh’s quick strikes on another foggy morning, evaporated in the afternoon sunshine as England turned in a vigorous spell. In an enthralling session between lunch and tea, a disciplined England seam attack removed Virender Sehwag, Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar to rattle India, and suddenly the hosts were on the back foot. Sitting on a 1-0 lead going into the final day of the series, they needed a counterpunching innings from Yuvraj Singh to get back into safe territory, ending the day 285 in front with six wickets in hand.