A different test for India in Wellington
New grounds and conditions haven't bothered India much on this tour. One-nil up in the ODIs, their fielders could be tested in Wellington again
At India's training sessions in New Zealand, the fielders have been chasing a yellow ball. It's lighter than a regular ball and moves more in the air, and that is the point. New fielding coach Subhadeep Ghosh wants his players to judge the ball well and move early, and he sees that as what conditions in New Zealand demand most of a fielder.
"It's a lighter one," Ghosh said about the practice ball on the eve of the second ODI. "In New Zealand, the movement and the judgment of the ball are very important. A lighter ball moves away from you, so you require the stability and the early movement so that you can execute those skills."
Wellington will test India's fielders again. Hnry Stadium, the venue for the second ODI, is almost the opposite of Eden Park. In Auckland, the straight boundaries were short. In Wellington, the square boundaries will in turn be extremely short while the straight boundaries will be longer, forcing an adjustment in fielding positions, ball trajectories in the air and even bowling plans, according to New Zealand fast bowler Blair Tickner.
"Dimensions in New Zealand are different every ground we go," Tickner said. "Obviously this is a lot shorter square, and then straight's quite long, so it's completely different to Eden Park, so we probably take that, especially in our death bowling, because in one-day cricket you obviously try and take wickets early with more traditional bowling, but definitely at the death we talk about different plans... although I won't tell ya!"
New grounds and foreign conditions haven't bothered India much on this tour. In fact, most of the time, they have handled the small boundaries and the swirling wind better than the hosts. In the opening ODI, on a pitch that was quicker and bouncier than even New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner expected, India's fast bowlers Arshdeep Singh, Gurnoor Brar and Anshul Kamboj bowled New Zealand out for 185.
The senior players set the standard in the field. Rohit Sharma ran out Daryl Mitchell with a sharp throw while Virat Kohli took a diving catch at second slip before his 74 off 51 settled a rain-shortened chase. India did have the better of the toss under overcast skies though, so the onus is on them to show there was more to the win than that.
When: Second ODI, November 7, 2026 at 3:00 PM local / 7:30 AM IST
Where: Hnry Stadium, Wellington
What to expect: Some wet weather through the match, but also windy, fast-bowling friendly conditions. In the last ODI at this venue, in November last year, England were reduced to 44/5 after being sent in to bat. They eventually got to 222, which New Zealand chased down in the 46th over.
"We saw it last year against England as well,” Tickner said. “There was a little bit more in the wicket then, especially here. As a bowler, I'm hoping for that. I don't want to be at a game where 400 chase 400, so I'm looking forward to a bit of extra bounce, hopefully a bit of nip off the wicket.”
Team news
New Zealand: Devon Conway, who collided with Matt Henry during training ahead of the first ODI, has been ruled out of the series with concussion. Left-handed batter Nick Kelly, who was selected for the fourth and fifth ODIs, has now been added to the squad. Tim Seifert, who opened in Conway's absence in Auckland, is expected to open once again with Will Young. Matt Henry, who's been cleared of concussion, is likely to slot back in.
Probable XI: Tim Seifert, Will Young, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wk), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner (c), Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, Jacob Duffy/Matt Henry, Blair Tickner
India: Mohammed Siraj has joined the squad after playing in the second four-day match against New Zealand A. He could replace Auqib Nabi in the XI.
Probable XI: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wk), Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi/Mohammed Siraj, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh
Who said what:
"That's [the tight schedule] the challenge of international cricket. You travel, you have optional sessions. It's more of a mindset... Physically, it's a challenge. But they have played enough cricket, so they know how to react in that situation." - Subhadeep Ghosh, India's fielding coach, on playing back-to-back ODIs
"I've had different parts of my career. I guess start of my career, I felt a lot of pressure. Then we had Sarah's [wife] cancer treatment, it was hard, and now I'm sort of at the back end, and I'm looking forward to just having fun, really, and it's what I'm trying to do, to myself really." - Blair Tickner, NZ pacer, on his approach to the game
