Wellington: New Zealand coach and chief selector Mike Hesson will face some welcome headaches when he names his Test squad to face India.
Hesson`s reign has been marked loyalty and consistency in selection, which means the 11 who played in the Wellington and Hamilton victories over West Indies should retain their spots in a 13-man Test squad.
Whether the 11 remains unchanged at Eden Park on February 6 is another matter, with Jesse Ryder and Hamish Bennett in the mix.
He said it is a challenge to fit everybody in and as a coach and selection group that`s the model you want.
Hesson said New Zealand won their last series 2-0 and pretty convincingly so to make changes in the tam one has to have a pretty good reason for that.
Opener Peter Fulton is most at risk. After scoring 61 in Dunedin, he scored three, six, 11 and 10 against West Indies and scored 18 and 10 for Canterbury against Otago this week, leaving him vulnerable to team-mate Tom Latham who is putting a compelling case as an opener, Fairfax NZ News reports.
Ryder`s availability presents the biggest headache. He should make into the squad, assuming Hesson sees him as more than a limited overs-only batsman, but where to fit him into the lineup is the question.
Pacer Trent Boult`s fitness is a slight query after he suffered a small tear to his left quadriceps in the third test win at Hamilton in late December, stuff.co.nz reports.
