Can India outsmart New Zealand in their backyard in Tests?

After a thriller of a T20 series which India won 5-0, an ODI series which saw New Zealand blanking India out 3-0, it is time now to don the whites. World number one India will take on hosts New Zealand, who are ranked four in the ICC Test rankings, in a two-match showdown. It's a format loved and excelled in by the leaders of both sides—Virat Kohli and Kane Williamson.

The first Test match begins in Wellington on February 21. Of the nine series played between the two teams in New Zealand, India have won only two—the last time being in 2009 when India won 1-0 in the three-Test series. Both Kohli and Williamson were young talents yet to realise their full potential then. Both have come a long way since then, establishing themselves as premier batsmen of their era.

Team India, undoubtedly, is a team on the roll, going into the series having won its Test series against Bangladesh.

New Zealand have had their own share of thrills and spills in Test cricket in the latter half of 2019. For the record, they had not lost a Test series at home since 2017 until they ran into Australia at the end of 2019.

The Test series against England, which New Zealand won, was a thrilling one, with wicketkeeper batsman B.K. Watling and all-rounder Mitchell Santner scoring runs against the likes of Stuart Broad, Joffra Archer and Ben Stokes. Opener Tom Latham was another batsman among runs, alongside Kane Williamson and Ross Taylor in the series.

But the high of the series was soon followed by the low of a 3-0 whipping at the hands of Trans-Tasman rivals Australia.

But, it will be foolhardy to underestimate the Kiwis in their backyard. The first Test will be veteran Taylor's 100th match in whites. It will also mark the return of paceman Trent Boult to the side, whose presence will boost New Zealand's pace attack. It is a fact that Tim Southee looks an even more dangerous bowler with Boult from the other end. Neil Wagner, Colin de Grandhomme and Kyle Jamieson are the other pace bowling options. The Kiwis have decided to go with a lone spinner Ajaz Patel instead of Santner.

And herein lies India's first challenge. With Rohit Sharma out injured, regular opener Mayank Agarwal is set to team up with either of the two young guns—Prithvi Shaw or Shubhman Gill. For the trio, negotiating Boult and company will be their foremost challenge.

Agarwal had a below-par outing for India A in the first warm-up match, bagging a pair and also in the ODI series, where the highest he could manage was 39. But he managed to score a quick 81 in the last tour game.

Gill has been in superb form during the India A tour and is part of the India selectors and team management's long-term plan, especially in Test cricket. The other opening option available with Kohli is Shaw, who has been out of the Indian team due to injury and doping-related ban for over an year. He will be keen to make a comeback, hungrier and, hopefully, fitter and mentally stronger. His class was never in doubt. He started the India A tour in NZ with a bang, scoring 150 in Lincoln and scored one more half century in the last India A match at Christchurch. He made his return to Team India in the ODI series, though his highest score was 40.

The Indian think-tank of Kohli and coach Ravi Shastri will have to get their line-up right going into the first Test at Basin Reserve in Wellington. The absence of all-rounder Hardik Pandya has made the decision-making more challenging for Kohli. Will he go with three seamers or four with Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja vying for the lone spinner's spot?

More importantly, Jasprit Bumrah is coming off a tepid ODI series post his return from injury and is yet to find his incisive form. Another senior bowler Ishant Sharma was just cleared for the Test series post an ankle injury. Kohli's third and fourth seamer options are Umesh Yadav and Navdeep Saini.

Bumrah's dip in form might have worried the Indian fans but he is expected to bounce back in the Tests. It remains to be seen whether NZ batsmen will adopt the same conservative approach against Bumrah in Tests like they did in the ODI series, and attack the weaker links in the Indian bowling attack.

While India has a fairly settled middle-order, it will be interesting to see if Rishabh Pant gets the nod ahead of regular Test wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha as the pre-match buzz suggests. Pant, who has been sidelined in the shorter formats on this tour and earlier series at home, has raised hopes with his batting in the warm-up game. But it might well have been to keep him match ready than than anything else. But the Kohli-Shastri duo like throwing surprises at the opposition. So, while Pant's inclusion seems unlikely, it's not an improbability.