India-New Zealand fixture a challenging test for the Blackcaps
With the T20 World Cup done and dusted, the cricketing fraternity will now turn their attention to other bilateral Test series across the globe.
Immediately headlining those series is New Zealand's tour of India, which is due to commence on Wednesday. The three-week tour will consist of three T20Is and two Test matches.
Even though India are heavy favorites to win the Test series, the Blackcaps must face mental and physical conditions that hardly favor their pursuit of success in the upcoming series.
India-New Zealand Test series owed centre stage
The centerpiece of this tour is clearly the Test series, with New Zealand and India ranked No.1 and No. 2 in the world respectively. It will mark the beginning of New Zealand's ICC World Test Championship (WTC) cycle, having been crowned the inaugural winners in June. The series will be a so-called replay of the 2021 WTC final between New Zealand and India.
But in that context, the Blackcaps will instead endure the malaise of an almost pointless trio of T20Is just days after the World Cup.
Finishing up at the @T20WorldCup with a hug from our bus driver Santhosh. Next stop Jaipur! #T20WorldCup #INDvNZ https://t.co/BdHPCHyzrX
It would be remiss to overlook the advantageous aspects of those T20Is, both commercially and for the cricketing public in India. The first T20I in Jaipur is expected to welcome a capacity crowd of 25,000 people.
But preparations for the Test series are in the firing line for the sake of a few T20I matches. The Blackcaps look destined to be disproportionately hindered by the fixture and its implications for their playing squad.
A great mental challenge awaits the Blackcaps on Wednesday as they will be playing just three days after their T20 World Cup final defeat to Australia. Reduced stakes and a short turnaround will no doubt be testing for the side ahead of matches in both formats.
New Zealand coach Gary Stead said the side will be prepared to take all challenges in its stride:
"It's the first time that I can remember that we're so quickly into another series immediately at the back-end of the T20 World Cup. It's definitely tough and challenging but it is what is in front of us." We've got nine-ten guys in India already, who are preparing for those Test matches, and hopefully we can get up and have a really great performance against India," he said.
Blackcaps coaching staff will reportedly juggle training across Test players in the morning and T20I players in the evening— hardly an ideal set-up for a Test tour.
The nine Test players not in the T20I squad are Ross Taylor, Tom Latham, Neil Wagner, Will Somerville, Ajaz Patel, Rachin Ravindra, Henry Nicholls, Tom Blundell and William Young.
With the side split across two formats, the Test squad members on T20I duty are unlikely to be primed or readied for a Test series. Those players include Kane Williamson, Tim Southee, Mitchell Santner, Glenn Phillips and Kyle Jamieson.
There is also a mere three-day turnaround between the third T20I and the first Test, denying the entire Test squad any meaningful prospect of a warm-up match. Test-only players have been hitting the nets and adjusting themselves to the sub-continental conditions at their training camp in Kolkata, but there is no replacement for match-practice.
Contrastingly, both Australia and England will be playing internal squad matches in the coming weeks before the Ashes. The West Indies are in the midst of a 4-day warm-up match against the Sri Lanka Board President's XI ahead of that Test series.
New Zealand will be without Trent Boult and Colin de Grandhomme for the Tests, whose need for rest has been engendered by a packed white-ball schedule. They were rested to prepare for New Zealand's home summer, which includes two Tests against Bangladesh in January and two Tests against South Africa in late February.
Devon Conway has been replaced by Daryl Mitchell due to a hand injury.
All of that is hardly reminiscent of adequate preparation under a coach who believes the Test series is more important.
Gary Stead said:
"The Test matches are more of our priority, I think, in the next month than what the T20 matches will be."
Full fixture list: New Zealand's tour of India
First T20I: November 17 in Jaipur
Second T20I: November 19 in Ranchi
Third T20I: November 21 in Kolkata
First Test: November 25-29 in Kanpur
Second Test: December 3-7 in Mumbai