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The programme runs till the end of April 2025, leading up to the 50-over World Cup in India

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Aug-2022The first women’s Future Tours Programme (FTP), announced by the ICC on Tuesday, contains a total of 301 international matches between 2022 and 2025. The cycle has already begun – in May this year – and runs until the conclusion of the ODI World Cup in 2025.The calendar for women’s cricket in the three-year cycle comprises seven Tests, 159 T20Is and 135 ODIs, which include fixtures for the 2022-25 ICC Women’s Championship, the qualification pathway for the next ODI World Cup in India.Related

• ICC set to limit clashes between franchise leagues and women's internationals

• India to play two Tests in 2022-25 cycle; Asia Cup slotted for October this year

• BCCI marks window in March 2023 for inaugural women's IPL

• Plans on 'to bridge gap between women and men's prize money'

Among the highlights of the FTP is the standalone Ashes, starting with England’s tour of Australia in 2024-25. England play the most Tests (five), followed by Australia (four), South Africa (three) and India (two).India are slated to play one Test match each against England and Australia at home. England last played a Test in India in 2005, while Australia’s Test in 2023-24 will be their first in the country since 1984.As part of the 2022-25 ICC Women’s Championship, teams will play three-match bilateral ODI series to try and qualify the 2025 World Cup. The addition of Bangladesh and Ireland makes the ICC Women’s Championship a 10-team tournament this time, compared to eight in the previous cycle. Each team will play eight ODI series (four home and four away) and the top five in the standings will earn direct qualification to the 2025 World Cup, along with hosts India. The bottom four teams in the ICC Women’s Championship will play four other teams in a qualifying tournament for the final two spots in the 2025 World Cup.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

“This is a huge moment for the women’s game,” ICC general manager of cricket, Wasim Khan, said. “This FTP not only lends certainty to future cricket tours but also sets the base for a structure that is sure to grow in the coming years.”Bangladesh, for example, will have 24 international matches in the new three-year cycle, compared to 11 in the previous cycle. Bangladesh, who had played Australia, England and New Zealand for the first time ever at the 2022 World Cup in New Zealand, will play each of these teams in a bilateral series comprising three matches apiece. Ireland will also have an increase in games because of their inclusion in the women’s FTP.All the bilateral T20I matches in the FTP will count towards team rankings, which will serve as the primary mechanism to determine the teams that qualify for ICC global events.There is a clear window in the women’s FTP in March 2023, which has been earmarked for the inaugural Women’s IPL.

There was a moment when the allrounder wondered if he would be able to take his side home against New Zealand

Andrew McGlashan06-Sep-2022There was a moment when Cameron Green wondered if he would be able to see Australia’s nervy chase through in Cairns as he cramped up in various places.As they closed in on a target of 233, either side of a brief rain delay, it looked like Green could seize up any second. With runners no longer permitted in international cricket, the boundary swatted by Zampa off Mitchell Santner in the 45th over and the wide that sealed the game were welcome assists.”Definitely,” Green said when asked at the post-match presentation whether he doubted being able to continue. “Couldn’t really walk for a [second] there. Groin, calf, hamstring and forearms. The whole lot was going.”Green came to the crease with Australia on 44 for 5 and he said the scoreline actually freed him up. “There was nothing really to lose, it had got to that stage, so no pressure on us, me and Kez [Alex Carey] can be free and play normally.”Until the body seized up, Green had been in control of almost everything. There was an inside edge early on against Lockie Ferguson which whistled over the stumps and a top-edged hook off the same bowler which Trent Boult couldn’t hold at fine leg. But other than that, he played brilliantly, finishing on an unbeaten and very satisfying 89 off 92 balls.It was the latest in a line of landmark performances since the start of last season in what remains a young international career: Test wickets coming his way after a dry start; emerging from some technical issues against England; scoring runs against reverse swing in Pakistan and spin in Sri Lanka; and a maiden ODI five-wicket haul last week in Townsville.And now, having marshaled an ODI chase, Green is already looking like Australia’s fulcrum going into next year’s World Cup.”We knew we were in a bit of trouble but we also knew there was a lot of time left in the game,” Carey, who shared the crucial 158-run stand with Green, said. “We enjoy batting together, we work really well. He scores pretty freely at the other end and we just bounce off each other nicely.”You saw today that he can come in any time so that’s a great feather in his cap. He’s a really calm character with bat, ball and in the field. Just goes about his business. We know how good he is but [he’s] taking this format [up] another step.”For New Zealand, this was a game that was within their grasp. The last time they won a match of any format in Australia was Boult’s international debut – the famous seven-run win in the Hobart Test of 2011 – and, with the ball, Boult could not have done much more to try and end that run.However, New Zealand may have made a tactical error in not giving Boult one more over in his opening spell which ended after five with Australia 38 for 4. He did not return until the 29th over, by which time Carey and Green had established their partnership.Carey could see both sides of the decision although did say “in hindsight” perhaps he could have been given another over.Boult himself indicated he would have been keen to continue. “I thought of having a sixth, and maybe a seventh or eighth,” he said with a smile. “Not too sure what the thinking was there. But they batted a long way down, think Maxwell at eight is a naughty batting order and we knew they would bat deep. Presume that was the thinking, but credit to the way they stuck at it and got the game done. Good game, but disappointed to be on the wrong side of it.”

Chris Read called Alex Hales’ innings the best he had seen for Nottinghamshire after their Royal London Cup triumph

Alan Gardner02-Jul-2017After watching Alex Hales clobber Surrey’s bowlers all around Lord’s to record the highest List A score on the ground, Chris Read was in no doubt about where the innings ranked: “Number one, pure and simple.”Hales’ imperious, unbeaten 187 – having been dropped on 9 – allowed Nottinghamshire to get home with 13 balls to spare in their chase of 298 and claim the Royal London Cup. His innings spanned a 137-run sixth-wicket stand with Read, Nottinghamshire’s captain, who was able to lift a one-day trophy at Lord’s for the second time in four years, in his final season before retirement.”Apart from the one he belted straight at cover early on,” Read added, with a laugh. “That aside, it was chanceless, but also the tempo of the innings. The one thing that made it easy for me, is all I needed to do was build a partnership, run rate was never an issue, throughout the time we were out there. All it meant was I had to be there, that was my role, because he did what he did. To be there at the end was special.”With Hales batting aggressively from outset, Nottinghamshire just needed someone to stick with him. When Steven Mullaney fell at the start of the 26th over, Notts were 150 for 5 with Hales having scored 114 and Brendan Taylor the only other batsman to reach double-figures. Having been told early on by Michael Lumb that Hales was on for a big one, Read knew he “just had to stay there and knock it around”.”I was acutely aware that the partnership needed to be built, which we’d failed to do,” Read said. “One bloke was on a hundred and we’d only managed to get one other bloke into double-figures, so what it needed was a partnership. The way he was playing, Lumby came to me shortly after he got out – Alex and Lumby know each other very, very well, they’ve opened for a long time – and he said: ‘He’s on today’. Well, if he says that… and you saw it. When he’s on, he’s as good as there is.”The day had not started well for Notts, after Gareth Batty won the toss and chose to bat first in Surrey’s third consecutive Royal London Cup final. Jason Roy was dropped off the first ball of the morning and Surrey had reached 83 for 0 after 11 overs, before Read turned to Samit Patel – Man of the Match for his 3 for 21 in Notts’ YB40 win in 2013.”The first ten overs was pretty awful,” Read said. “The wicket for Samit, who’s done so well with the ball here, he seems to make things happen… To get a wicket with his first ball, soon after the Powerplay. I had a little chat with the guys and said ‘look, we probably need to start now, let’s just scrap those last ten overs’. We got back on track and I thought, particularly through Mullaney and Samit, pace off worked well for us for a while and we managed to keep the run-scoring in check.”After that ten overs I never felt out of control, the run rate never felt like it was getting away from us, which is important. Also having played in a semi and quarter-final where runs seemed to flow at will, we accept that good balls, bad balls can go for boundaries, we get over that, do our utmost in the field and back ourselves to chase whatever they got. We were disappointed at halftime about the way we fielded but ultimately we believed that 297 was very chaseable.”Read is due to play at Lord’s again next week, in an MCC fixture against Afghanistan. He laughingly referred to “ducking Cairns’ slower ball”, in his second Test back in 1999, as one of his less enjoyable times on the ground but described the Royal London final as a “fairytale” finish to his one-day career.”It’s brilliant, what a day. I came here in 2013, we had the Yorkshire Bank 40 final and that was my first Lord’s final. I was blown away by what a day it is. It’s an emotional day because of everything that’s going on. It’s a big moment in your career.”The fans make it to a degree, when you hear them chanting. We get well supported at Trent Bridge and in T20 we get good crowds but when they make the effort to come to London to have a day out and cheer all day, that’s what brings it home. Today was a very special moment. We were party to one of the finest one-day innings that I’ve ever witnessed and it was just a pleasure to be at the other end for a decent chunk of that.”I’ve some great times here, brilliant times. Some less so, obviously right at the start of my career, ducking Cairns’ slower ball, that wasn’t so good. Mostly past that has been great. Winning in 2013, the MCC bicentenary game, playing with the legends of my era, and then today. So yeah, it’s a fairytale.”Read, whose next assignment alongside Hales could be in a 2nd XI match at Grantham to prepare for the start of the NatWest T20 Blast, was also positive about the decision to move the 50-over competition into the first half of the season, with the final played in July rather than September.”The overhead conditions were for the most part great but the pitch was a beauty, which potentially we haven’t seen in 50-over finals of late because they come so late in the season on a potentially tired square. Also having that final in the middle of summer, it’s nice to get that out of the way, played that in a clump, now we can focus on T20, then the Championship reaches its finale towards the end, so I think there’s a good balance. Good pitches, nice weather, high-scoring games… I think 50-over cricket has definitely got a place in the future.”

Before Hazlewood, the last Australia bowler to top the T20I bowling charts was Nathan Bracken in 2008

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Jun-2022Josh Hazlewood continued his rise in T20 cricket by claiming the No. 1 spot among bowlers in the ICC rankings. Before him, the last Australia bowler to top the T20I bowling charts was Nathan Bracken back in 2008.With six wickets, Hazlewood was the leading wicket-taker in Australia’s recent 2-1 series win over Sri Lanka, as he rose two places to go above Tabraiz Shamsi and Adil Rashid to the No. 1 spot. Before that, Hazlewood had grabbed 11 wickets in Australia’s victorious campaign in the T20 World Cup last year.

Full rankings tables

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• Click here for the full player rankings

Hazlewood, remarkably, hadn’t played a T20I between March 2016 and September 2020.Meanwhile, India opener Ishan Kishan entered the top ten in the T20I batting rankings for the first time. Scores of 76, 34 and 54 in the first three T20Is in the ongoing series against South Africa propelled him 68 spots from his No. 75 ranking at the start of the series. Kishan is now the top-ranked India batter in T20Is, above KL Rahul who sits at 14th.Kishan remains the top-scorer in the series with 164 runs, as India hit back in the third game in Visakhapatnam on Tuesday to keep the five-match series alive.Pakistan captain Babar Azam continues to lead the batting charts, with his opening partner Mohammad Rizwan rising a spot up to No. 2, from where Aiden Markram slipped to third after missing the series against India after testing positive for Covid-19.In other notable movements among bowlers, Hazlewood’s team-mate Ashton Agar gained three places to move up to ninth, while Sri Lanka’s Maheesh Theekshana jumped 16 spots to eighth. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s six wickets in three games against South Africa helped him rise three places to No. 11 with a career-best ratings points total of 635.

Was out celebrating a win with Petherton Cricket Club team-mates when the incident occurred, resulting in head injury

Firdose Moonda31-May-2022Former South African Under-19 bowler Mondli Khumalo is in an induced coma in Bristol after being assaulted outside a pub in Bridgwater on Saturday night. Khumalo has suffered bleeding on the brain and has had two operations thus far. He remains in a serious condition. A 27-year-old man has been arrested in connection with the incident.Khumalo, 20, is contracted to Kwa-Zulu Natal Inland in South Africa, and is on his first overseas stint as a professional for North Petherton Cricket Club. The team was out celebrating a victory last weekend when the incident took place. ESPNcricinfo understands that Khumalo was unconscious at the scene and received emergency medical treatment at Southmead Hospital. It is not yet known what Khumalo’s long-term prognosis is.North Petherton Cricket Club and Khumalo’s agent, Rob Humphries, have begun work on assisting the Khumalo family, especially Mondli’s mother, to obtain a passport to travel to the United Kingdom to be with him. “Mondli is such a gentle guy. His mom just can’t understand how something like this could have happened to him,” Humphries told ESPNcricinfo. “And everyone at North Petherton just adores him. He is a genuinely lovely kid. He was having a really good time here. He had bowled really well and he had become such a wonderful part of the club.”Khumalo represented South Africa U-19 at the 2020 World Cup, has four first-class caps and received a high-performance contract from Kwa-Zulu Natal Inland for the 2022-2023 season.Though Khumalo’s medical bills while he is in hospital are covered, it is not known whether he will need further treatment in future. North Petherton have set up a crowdfunder page in his name to assist in any way needed.

Left-arm fast bowler Abu Hider starred with the ball, bagging a three-for, as the visitors were skittled out for only 103 runs

The Report by Mohammad Isam24-Oct-2017
ScorecardAssociated Press

Bangladesh A took a 2-0 lead against Ireland A after their eight-wicket win in the third unofficial ODI in Cox’s Bazar. Left-arm fast bowler Abu Hider starred with the ball, bagging a three-for, as the visitors were skittled out only for 103 runs. The home side won with 27 overs to spare.Andy Balbirnie’s decision to bat first backfired for the entire Ireland A batting line-up, barring himself. His 90-ball 52 amounted to more than half of the team total and featured three fours and a six. Having come in at No. 3, he added 48 runs for the seventh wicket with Shane Getkate, whose 23 was the only other double-digit score by an Ireland batsman other than Balbirnie’s.After Balbirnie fell to legspinner Tanbir Hayder in the 33rd over, Ireland added one more run at the expense of the last three wickets.Hider took out three of the top five batsmen – Stuart Poynter, Sean Terry and Simi Singh – while Sunzamul Islam and Hayder bagged two each. Subashis Roy, Abul Hasan and Al Amin also took one wicket apiece.Both openers got starts but failed to sustain their innings. Anamul Haque, playing his first match of the series, fell for 20, while Shadman could only amass 24. Captain Nazmul Hossain Shanto subsequently took Bangladesh A home with an unbeaten 41 off 38 balls.The fourth and fifth ODIs are scheduled to be held on October 25 and 26 in Cox’s Bazar.

Williamson, Southee partly rested in anticipation of heavy workloads during a hectic home summer involving limited-overs series against Pakistan and England

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Dec-2017Rookie fast bowler Lockie Ferguson makes a return to New Zealand’s ODI squad, but two senior players – Kane Williamson and Tim Southee – will be rested for the second and third ODIs of the three-match series against West Indies.There were no other major surprises. Legspinner Ish Sodhi – who joined New Zealand’s ODI squad in India – makes way for Todd Astle, who returns to the fray after recovering from a groin strain. Batsman Martin Guptill, however, has been ruled out with a hamstring injury. Central Districts batsman George Worker will open the batting in his stead. Tom Latham, meanwhile, will captain the side in Williamson’s absence, having already led the ODI team during a tour to Ireland.Though New Zealand had a long break from international cricket between June and October, prior to their limited-overs series in India, the decision to rest Williamson and Southee comes in anticipation of a busy home season. After the ongoing West Indies tour winds down, Pakistan are due to arrive in New Zealand for five ODIs and three T20s, before England play five ODIs and two Tests to end the summer.”It’s a long summer, so for those guys playing in all three formats it’s important we keep them fresh and build depth leading into a world cup year,” chief selector Gavin Larsen said. “Tim and Kane will both take breaks during this series, but there will be others who will also rest throughout the season.”Williamson will also be rested from the first T20 against West Indies. Batsman Neil Broom and left-arm spinning allrounder Mitchell Santner will replace the two outgoing members of the squad for the second and third ODIs.Astle’s re-selection, meanwhile, is merely a return to the policy that saw him selected before his groin injury. He had taken six wickets at an average of 27.83 during New Zealand A’s tour of India, and had consequently been chosen for the senior team’s tour of the same country. He was forced to withdraw from that tour, however, and has since been in good bowling in the Ford trophy, taking seven wickets in three matches for Canterbury.”Todd has been one of the top domestic bowlers in the country for a number of years now and performed very well during the recent New Zealand A tour to India,” Larsen said. “He was unlucky to get injured before the Blackcaps tour in India, but he’s continued to bowl well on return and thoroughly deserves this opportunity.”Ferguson has also made a decent start to the Ford Trophy, taking 2 for 39 for Auckland in his most-recent outing. He has eight wickets from seven ODIs so far, and is reputed to be the quickest bowler in the country.”Lockie has been in excellent form and we got to see a bit of him in Wellington while he was a part of the Test squad,” Larsen said. “To have him and Adam Milne in the squad is exciting from a pace perspective.”New Zealand ODI squad: Kane Williamson (capt.), Tim Southee [first ODI only for both], Todd Astle,Trent Boult, Colin de Grandhomme, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Tom Latham, Adam Milne, Colin Munro, Henry Nicholls, Ross Taylor, George WorkerNeil Broome and Mitchell Santner (second and third ODIs only)

Political rallies scheduled in Islamabad – the twin city of Rawalpindi – has forced the change

Danyal Rasool18-Mar-2022Pakistan’s white-ball matches against Australia will now be played in Lahore, and not Rawalpindi, Pakistan’s interior minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmad said on Friday. On Saturday, the two boards agreed on the shift, and the three ODIs and one-off T20I will be played at the Gaddafi Stadium.The move was forced on the PCB because of a political situation surrounding prime minister Imran Khan, who is set to face a no-confidence vote next week.ESPNcricinfo understands that the final decision was a matter for the two boards – the PCB and Cricket Australia – and not the government to finalise. However, the boards have now mutually agreed to the recommendation of the minister.The political atmosphere in the country has led to both the ruling party, Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), and the opposition Pakistan Democratic Movement (PDM), promising to bring massive numbers in support for their respective causes towards Islamabad, which adjoins Rawalpindi.PTI has announced it will bring one million people to D Chowk, a square in Islamabad known for hosting political rallies, on March 27 “to express solidarity with the prime minister Imran Khan”. The spot is less than two kilometres from the hotel where the two teams were expected to stay during the series. PDM has also given a call to its workers and the public at large to begin a long march towards Islamabad on Pakistan Day – March 23.The dates for the four games remains unchanged. Lahore will host the three ODIs on March 29, March 31 and April 2, and a one-off T20I on April 5. The PCB is understood to have been reluctant to shift venue, concerned about the message it might send to the cricketing world. It appears, though, that circumstances may have forced their hand.Australia are currently in Lahore to play the third Test of a three-match series, starting March 21. The first two Tests – in Rawalpindi and Karachi – were drawn. It is the first Australia tour to the country since 1998.

Australia will wait to assess the fitness of Aaron Finch but Alex Carey made a good start as stand-in

Andrew McGlashan22-Jul-2021

Big Picture

Australia continue to look much more at home in the 50-over format than the T20 game, which has pretty much been the way over the last year. Their strength on this tour lies in the bowling department and it showed in the way Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood cut through West Indies’ top order.The batting display was far from dynamic, but it was one that suited a tricky surface reasonably well and given the experimental nature of the line-up they kept their composure after being 114 for 4. Captain Alex Carey was key to that with a well-constructed half-century that built on the hundred he made against England last year and Ashton Turner played an important hand.West Indies were very poor with the bat. On a surface that made stroke-making a challenge – only Kieron Pollard scored freely and he had nothing to lose – they missed Shai Hope at the top of the order to offer a measured anchor for the chase. The shots of Darren Bravo and Jason Holder were disappointing for senior players.However, Hayden Walsh Jr continued to spin a web around the Australia batting taking his five wickets in 16 balls. He would likely enjoy a scenario defending a decent target where there is run-rate pressure on the batters.

Form guide

(last five completed matches)
West Indies LWWWL
Australia WLWWWL

In the spotlight

Since the 2019 World Cup, ODI cricket has not been a good format for Jason Holder. In 15 matches he averages 13.28 with the bat and 69.60 with the ball. In the opening match he was the most expensive of West Indies’ pace bowlers then followed it with a duck. At his best, as a batter capable of being in the top six and a new-ball bowler, he is the ideal player to balance the XI but his team could do with an uptick in returns.Ashton Turner made a promising return for just the seventh ODI of his career and the first outside of India. It was his spectacular unbeaten 84 off 43 balls in Mohali in 2019, as Australia chased 359, that put his name up in lights but also left him a tough act to follow. While a host of big names are missing this series there could yet be a middle-order spot for Turner in the future if he can build on his good start.

Team news

West Indies’ original squad has been hit by injuries to Shai Hope (ankle), Fabian Allen (side) and Roston Chase (thigh).West Indies (possible) 1 Evin Lewis, 2 Shimron Hetmyer, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Jason Mohammed, 5 Nicholas Pooran (wk), 6 Kieron Pollard (capt), 7 Jason Holder, 8 Alzarri Joseph, 9 Akeal Hosein, 10 Hayden Walsh Jr, 11 Sheldon CottrellWhether Australia make any changes may depend on the fitness of Aaron Finch otherwise the team deserves another run out. The only consideration might be if there is a need for another spinner.Australia (possible) 1 Ben McDermott, 2 Josh Philippe, 3 Mitchell Marsh, 4 Moises Henriques, 5 Alex Carey (wk), 6 Ashton Turner, 7 Matthew Wade, 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Wes Agar, 10 Adam Zampa, 11 Josh Hazlewood

Pitch and conditions

It was a two-paced surface with the ball gripping for seamers and spinners which suggests Australia’s 250 might be a good total throughout. The expectation is that the next pitch will be similar. The forecast says there could be some showers during the match.

Stats and trivia

• Mitchell Starc now has eight five-wicket hauls in ODIs which puts him one behind Brett Lee as the most for Australia
• Hayden Walsh Jr now has his best bowling figures in ODIs and T20Is against Australia

Quotes

“There were a couple of soft dismissals and we knew Australia are very dangerous with the new ball, especially Mitchell Starc in the first two or three overs and we weren’t able to negotiate that.”
The ball has been coming out pretty well, T20 is sometimes hard to judge yourself on but yesterday was really good fun. That’s probably one of the best starts we’ve had so pretty happy

With some big names missing on both sides, can New Zealand take advantage of India’s relatively inexperienced batting?

Karthik Krishnaswamy24-Nov-20211:13

Wasim Jaffer picks his India XI

Big Picture

They’re the top two teams in the ICC Test rankings. They recently contested the World Test Championship final. One team has won each of their last three meetings, but all three Tests were played in conditions that negated the other team’s biggest point of difference, their spin bowling.India now have the chance to play New Zealand in their own conditions. New Zealand now have the chance to prove they aren’t just WTC champions but also the best all-conditions Test team in the world.

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This should be one of the most eagerly anticipated series of recent times, but just look at who won’t be lining up in Kanpur even though they’re fully fit: Kohli, Rohit, Pant, Bumrah, Shami, Boult, de Grandhomme. It’s the reality of these times. There’s endless, wall-to-wall cricket, most of it within biosecure bubbles, and, at some point, everyone needs a break.It won’t have the star power it might otherwise command, but this still promises to be an enthralling series. After an England tour during which India’s XI mostly had room only for one of them, R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja will be back doing what they do best, and their threat is likely to be magnified by the presence of Axar Patel in a three-man spin attack.The challenge that this India attack – the aforementioned spinners plus their quicks – presents in Indian conditions may well be among the biggest Test cricket has thrown at batters through its history. New Zealand, though, have quality and experience running through their top five, and in Kane Williamson a world-class force whose record in India doesn’t reflect his immense skill against spin.While it isn’t yet clear what shade of subcontinental this Green Park surface will be, it’ll be of a kind that New Zealand haven’t experienced for quite a while. As good as their fast bowlers are, their magnificent recent records have owed quite a bit to the green carpets that have been rolled out for them wherever they’ve gone. Their last nine Tests have all been played either at home or in England, and Kyle Jamieson, who has played all his eight Tests in this period, has a bowling average of – wait for it – 14.17.How well he, Neil Wagner and Tim Southee – who has an outstanding record in Asia but hasn’t played in India since 2012 – adapt to Indian pitches might hold as much of a key to how many WTC points New Zealand take home from this tour as the performance of their spinners. On the latter front New Zealand might be better equipped than at any time since the days of Daniel Vettori, with Ajaz Patel having played significant roles in Test wins in Abu Dhabi (twice) and Colombo, and with Will Somerville having featured alongside him in two of those triumphs.And while India will start as heavy favourites as they always do at home, their batting line-up won’t wear its usual impregnable look, with Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli and Rishabh Pant absent; with Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane potentially rusty in addition to not having been in the best of form for close to two years; and with one or potentially two debutants set to feature.In this line-up’s inexperience might lie New Zealand’s biggest opportunity.Form guide

India WLWDL (last five Tests, most recent first)

New Zealand WWDWWTim Southee has a fantastic record in Asia•PA Photos/Getty Images

In the spotlight