India, New Zealand switch to World Cup prep at bouncy Eden Park

November 3, 2026
3:26 pm

Big picture: More overs, more fun

What can change in four days? On Friday, at this very ground, New Zealand scored 259 in their 20 overs. All things being equal, we should be in for some breakage of ODI records, but somehow Eden Park in Auckland has escaped all these years. The highest ODI score at Eden Park remains 340 from 2007. In the last two ODIs in Auckland, teams batting under lights have been bowled out for 150 and 76.

They clearly must be preparing the ODI pitch less flat than the T20 ones. And, as Glenn Phillips said, Eden Park might just be the second-bounciest square in the world after Perth. It stays fresh as well: Auckland play their domestic matches at the Outer Oval.

If there is some movement to go with the bounce, this is a proper start to World Cup preparations for both the sides. Both of them last played West Indies; India at home and New Zealand away. India will know for real where Rohit Sharma and, to a lesser extent, Virat Kohli stand with regards to a tournament one year down the line that could be played on early-summer bouncy surfaces. New Zealand will know if they can match the power of India after being outgunned in the knockouts by the same team in the last two white-ball World Cups.

New Zealand may have lost to India in the last ODI World Cup semi-final, but won the last bilateral ODI series between the two teams. Even without the World Cup, this is the middle part of a rare full international tour these days. We have already had these two teams at each other for five entertaining T20Is where the series came down to one or two dropped catches even though India did take an unassailable 3-0 lead. The first three ODIs will be of higher intensity before some of the Test players from both sides move on to prepare for the Tests.

New Zealand: LWWWL (last five completed ODIs, most recent first)
India: LWWLL

In the spotlight: Tom Latham and KL Rahul

Two Test openers who have fashioned themselves to become wicketkeepers to be able to play ODI cricket. Keeping wicket for 50 overs is not even the half of it. But Tom Latham and KL Rahul are not charity picks. They have both been excellent middle-order batters, called upon only when the top order fails, which usually happens only in tough conditions. They will hope to play long innings during this series to underscore their importance for their sides.

Team news: Conway concussed, Iyer back

After a nasty collision with Matt Henry while doing fielding drills on the eve of the match, Devon Conway ended up with a concussion. While Conway is out for the first ODI at least, Henry is not a certain starter either. New Zealand are already without Mark Chapman and Rachin Ravindra. This could open the door for a return to the ODI side for Tim Seifert unless New Zealand persist with Henry Nicholls, who is usually the emergency back-up opener.

New Zealand (probable): 1 Will Young, 2 Tim Seifert/ Henry Nicholls, 3 Daryl Mitchell, 4 Glenn Phillips, 5 Tom Latham (wk), 6 Michael Bracewell, 7 Mitchell Santner (capt), 8 Nathan Smith, 9 Kyle Jamieson, 10 Matt Henry/ Blair Tickner, 11 Jacob Duffy

India are still missing their two big players in Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya, but this is a good chance for Nitish Kumar Reddy to display his bowling wares in a long series. Other than that, they are at full strength. Expect Shreyas Iyer to replace Ruturaj Gaikwad at No. 4. Axar Patel should come back as the spinner who can bat. The peculiar dimensions at Eden Park could make it difficult for Kuldeep Yadav to play, which means India could possibly go in with three allrounders.

India (probable): 1 Rohit Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill (capt), 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Shreyas Iyer, 5 KL Rahul (wk), 6 Naman Dhir, 7 Nitish Kumar Reddy, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Gurnoor Brar, 10 Mohammed Siraj, 11 Arshdeep Singh

This will not be the same pitch as the T20I, so there is hope for some balance between bat and ball. Expect good bounce as usual. The weather is mostly clear and should not interrupt play.