Even after surrendering their five-match Twenty20 series against India with two games still to play, the Black Caps are refusing to hit the panic button for next month’s World Cup.
With defeats in Nagpur and Raipur already under their belts, a chastening eight-wicket loss in Guwahati sees the Black Caps trail 3-0 in their final preparations for the World Cup and in danger of being whitewashed by their hosts with two games still to play.
In all three games, so far, India’s batting has proven to be the difference, with their line-up of specialists manufactured by the Indian Premier League showing an incredible ability to find the boundary at will.
Guwahati proved just that, as India scored at more than 15 runs per over to cruise to their target of 154 with eight wickets and 60 balls to spare.
But two things can be true at the same time. While the Black Caps can, and will, be disappointed at being soundly beaten, New Zealand’s preparation for this year’s World Cup will be better than most.
The Black Caps will not face a tougher opponent than India, in the group stage at the very least, during their World Cup campaign. What’s more, by the time the series ends, New Zealand’s 15-man squad will have had vital time training and playing in Indian conditions – even if the scoreline turns out to be 5-0 in the hosts’ favour.
But while India are at full-strength, the Black Caps are yet to play their best line-up across the series.
After captaining the team to a history-making 2-1 series win in the one-day internationals, Michael Bracewell has so far been unavailable with a calf injury, but will return. Adam Milne has been scratched altogether after a hamstring injury suffered in South Africa.
Lockie Ferguson and Tim Seifert were late arrivals after franchise commitments, while Finn Allen and Jimmy Neesham will soon link up with the squad after winning Australia’s Big Bash League and the Bangladesh Premier League respectively.
So while, for now, the Black Caps have been outplayed with the bat in particular, the bigger picture is well and truly in the team’s sights.
“To be honest, their batting has been dynamic, it’s been explosive,” said Mark Chapman. “The surfaces have been really good, we’re going to have to look at getting some bigger scores.
“But we’re aware that not every surface in India is an absolute belter. There will be a time where the ball will turn. We’ve got to be ready for anything.
“From our point of view, there’s no better preparation for a World Cup than facing one of the best T20 teams in the world.
“It’s great to see the way they’re going about their business. Hopefully we can learn one or two things off them.”
However, while up against the might of an Indian side built specifically to defend its 2024 T20 World Cup crown on home soil, the Black Caps can feel as though this series was a missed chance.
After winning a maiden test series on Indian soil in 2024, coupled with this month’s ODI triumph, the Black Caps could have completed the set with victory in the T20s.
However, with the T20 World Cup now less than two weeks away, the team will settle for whatever lessons they can take, even in defeat.
“To be honest, it is disappointing to be out of the series already,” Chapman said. “India have played some really good cricket.
“There’s some things that we can tidy up from our end. From our point of view, it’s about reviewing.
“We’ve got one eye on the World Cup as well, [but] we’ve got two more games here. For us, it’s about fine-tuning things and getting better each game to put us in good stead for that first game against Afghanistan.”
Alex Powell is a sports journalist for the NZ Herald. He has been a sports journalist since 2016.