They had a two-day game in between, and the friendly atmosphere and friendlier bowling will help a bit; but out here at the Eden Park, they realise that sparks will fly again, along with short-pitched deliveries and power-packed strokes. The weather in Auckland has already turned for the worse, with dark clouds looming way below the horizon; it is expected to rain on most match-days, at least intermittently, making it tougher for India.
The pitch here may have devolved into a batting track during the third one-dayer, even helping them scramble to a tie; but it is expected to be a lot more perkier during the Test, with a layer of grass assuming an ominous look. The red ball will swing and seam too, and the Indian batsmen may well dance to it.
New Zealand are raring to unleash their pace specialists, Trent Boult and Neil Wagner; with Tim Southee and Corey Anderson already having tasted blood, India know that another test of character is on the anvil. They may be happy to see the face of an Indian in the Kiwi side, especially as he will offer only spin; but then, Ish Sodhi may just surprise them with his fierce leg-breaks and loopy flight.
India, though, will be bolstered by the arrival of their own specialists, Murali Vijay and Cheteshwar Pujara: if the former came into his own in the second Test in Durban, the latter has become the fulcrum of the batting order. Both understand the value of leaving the ball and staying put at the crease.
Virat Kohli, after the break from the team, will look to bat with the same confidence and freedom in the Tests; Rohit Sharma and Ajinkya Rahane, though, realise that they need to make their talent count. Zaheer Khan's arrival will give some direction to the pacers: they were clueless about how to cope with the bounce. He may not have bowled anything that looked like express in the two-day game; but he knows how to use the conditions and work on the batsmen's minds.
In all likelihood, Mohammed Shami and Ishant Sharma will be the force behind with him, with Ravindra Jadeja offering his fastish turners for variety. Together, they need to be much more disciplined and cohesive if they want to be effective in this part of the world.
New Zealand will hope that their Test openers, Peter Fulton and Hamish Rutherford, will provide the kind of starts that Jesse Ryder and Martin Guptill gave in the one-dayers; the middle-order, with Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum and Anderson will be eager to subjugate the bowlers yet again.
For India, everything will come down to how the memories of the defeats will weigh on them; if they can push them into the furthest recesses of the mind, they may surprise everybody again by doing much better in Tests than in one-dayers.
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