TEAM INDIA SPOTS OUT A NEW JERSEY

The Indian cricket team is all set to sport a new look, as the new jersey was unveiled on Wednesday (February 18), on the eve of Team India's departure to New Zealand. This is the team's second jersey in past two years. 

In a press conference hosted by veteran commentator Harsha Bhogle, the jersey was unveiled by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni along with Zaheer Khan, Dinesh Karthik, Pragyan Ohja, Rohit Sharma and Yuvraj Singh. The Indian team's new jersey sports a different blue along with shades of the tri-colour along with it. Dhoni's men will now be sporting these new jerseys on all their tours henceforth. 

Meanwhile, captain cool said that he does get upset at times when a teammate makes a fielding mistake, but doesn't show the frustration. "I do get frustrated at times when a mistake is made on the field. But I feel there's no point in abusing him there. I prefer to go back into the dressing room and point out his mistake. That helps him more", Dhoni said after unveiling the Indian team's new one day kit -- bold blue in colour -- along with other teammates. 

Dhoni described the forthcoming tour of New Zealand as a tough assignment but said whether at home or away, international cricket was always a difficult proposition. "It's better to start as underdogs (in a series). It's going to be tough, but international cricket is tough whether at home or away. We have heard how beautiful it (New Zealand) is. We would enjoy the tour and hopefully would come back with a couple of trophies. We don't bother whether we are playing Sri Lanka or any other country", he said. 

Dhoni, meanwhile, made it clear that he did not intend to try bungee jumping in New Zealand as his contract prohibits him from doing so. Dhoni has been invited by Tourism Auckland to take up the challenge and bungee jump from the Auckland Harbour as a "stress buster". Teammate Yuvraj Singh supported Dhoni and said "Our tour contract does not allow us to do bungee jumping." 

The Indian squad is set to depart for New Zealand early tomorrow morning after attending the Cricket Board's annual awards function here this evening. Yuvraj, who got back-to-back man of the match awards in the last two One-Day International series, did not wish to comment whether he enjoyed playing at number four. All he repeatedly said was "Please ask Dhoni". 

Zaheer Khan, also among the six New Zealand-bound team members to walk the ramp with the new ODI outfit, said that he was enjoying the responsibility of leading the Indian attack. "I'm enjoying the responsibility. It will definitely help me in keeping my focus and get to the next level", he said while welcoming the new "Dri-Fit" outfit, designed and produced by BCCI’s official apparel sponsors Nike, as ideal in hot conditions. 

Yuvraj quipped the Mumbai left-arm pacer was the leader off the field too, adding "please ask Dhoni about it". "The new outfit will help us in hot conditions", he said. In 2007, India's new jersey officially unveiled the jersey for the ICC World Cup. 

The kit was made public at a press conference, attended by some team members -- then Captain Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly, Dinesh Karthik, Zaheer Khan, Mahendra Singh Dhoni and S Sreesanth -- and senior officials of the Board of Control for Cricket in India. The colours of the graphics on the new jersey take inspiration from the Indian flag and represent speed and motion.