How India’s Early Test Preparation Shows What Is at Stake in New Zealand

Four days. That is all India have between the last ODI and a series they cannot afford to lose. The one-day games end on November 15 at Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui, and the opening Test starts on November 19 at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. Anyone who thinks the red-ball side can wait for the ODIs to finish has not looked at the table.

India sit fourth in the World Test Championship, with New Zealand at or near the top. They were fifth, on 68 points and 51.52 percent, after the Sri Lanka series ended in a draw. Seven matches remain. Win both in New Zealand and India reach about 59 percent. Split the series and they stay near 51. A draw is worth four points out of 12. Five Tests against Australia follow at home from January 21, starting in Nagpur, and even a clean sweep here would leave work to do there. The points must come at the Basin Reserve and at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.

That explains the planning. Team India were ready to split the coaching staff, with some support staff set to join the Test group in Wellington while the rest stayed with the one-day side. A preparation window from November 11 was meant to give five or six sessions, and captain Shubman Gill and the Test group trained at the Basin Reserve on Thursday. Fast bowlers from the ODI squad were kept back to bowl in the nets, and Gurnoor Brar was wanted there to get batters used to tall New Zealand pacers. Teams that feel safe do not rearrange a tour mid-series. India have.

New Zealand have prepared the same way. Their captain, Tom Latham, left the ODI side early to get ready for the Tests. The group is mostly the one that won 2-1 in England in June. Kane Williamson has retired, and Will O’Rourke, Ben Sears and Zak Foulkes are out, but Rachin Ravindra is back. India can read those absences as an opening, though not as a result. New Zealand are at home, and India have not won a series there since 2009.

India’s own list of problems is long. Gill left the ODI squad after three games to work on red-ball cricket, and Rishabh Pant missed the India A series with a side strain. Kuldeep Yadav was released to play domestic cricket. Mohammed Shami has retired from Tests, which puts more weight on Jasprit Bumrah’s return.

India have started early because they have no choice. A win in Wellington keeps them in the race. A loss makes every Test after it harder. The camp has bought them time, and now the team has to deliver.