MUMBAI, Feb 18: The ability to adapt to tough conditions will be crucial for India during the upcoming cricket tour of New Zealand, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni said Wednesday.

“Everyone knows the conditions in New Zealand are tough. It’s a big tour for us and we want to win,” Dhoni told reporters on the eve of the team’s departure for the six-week tour.

India will play three Test matches, five one-day internationals and two twenty20 matches during the tour, which begins with the first twenty20 international on Feb. 25.

“I don’t believe in being favorites or underdogs. It’s going to be about form and adaptability, about game plans and how to change according to different conditions,” Dhoni said.

“Overseas assignments are tough, we have to give 100 percent and execute out plans,” he said. “The better you prepare the better results you will get.”

Team coach and former South African opener Gary Kirsten said the Indian squad was embarking on the tour with the belief that it was capable of winning in all three forms of the game.

“We’re going there knowing that we can win,” Kirsten said. “We have a good balance in the team and we know that our team can perform in any condition and on any surface.”

But he said that New Zealand were competitive and “not an easy team to beat on their own turf.”

He also noted that conditions were changeable but was confident India could adapt.

“The last time India toured New Zealand the wickets were seaming, but the tracks were flat when West Indies went there recently,” Kirsten said.

India: Twenty20: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma, Suresh Raina, Yusuf Pathan, Dinesh Karthik, Ravindra Jadeja, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Pragyan Ojha and Ishant Sharma.

ODIs: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Suresh Raina, Rohit Sharma, Dinesh Karthik, Yusuf Pathan, Irfan Pathan, Harbhajan Singh, Praveen Kumar, Zaheer Khan, Munaf Patel, Pragyan Ojha and Ishant Sharma.

Tests: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Murali Vijay, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, V.V.S. Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Amit Mishra, Laxmipathi Balaji, Munaf Patel, Ishant Sharma and Dhawal Kulkarni.—AP