It was exactly on this day last year that New Zealand played the first of their five ODIs against India in Dharamsala. A year on, they're back in the country for yet another ODI and T20I series.
But while it might be a short span of time for the Black Caps to face the mighty Indians at their den again, a lot of water has flown under the bridge of the Indian ODI team since last year.
In that previous series, MS Dhoni was still the leader of India's One-Day side – it was his last series as India captain – and Anil Kumble was the head coach. Hardik Pandya was still finding his foot in the team as an all-rounder, walking into bat at Nos. 7 or 8, while the hosts' spin attack comprised Amit Mishra and Axar Patel.
Cut to date. Virat Kohli has taken over the reigns of Indian cricket completely, with Ravi Shastri in tow as the chief coach. Pandya is the new face of the new Team India with a potential long-term role at No. 4 with the bat, and both of India's spinners have the word 'wrist' before them: leggie Yuzvendra Chahal and chinaman Kuldeep Yadav.
This rejigged, refreshed and robust Team India has gone about decimating opponents in the shorter formats like ruthless warriors in a battlefield over the last year. Be it 4-1 against world champions Australia at home or 3-1 against the West Indies and 5-0 against Sri Lanka away, Kohli and his boys have spared none.
The Kiwis, though, have been the only bunch of cricketers that have challenged the audacity of the Indian team in their victorious five-match ODI series in the past one year.
In the 2016 series, New Zealand took the rubber to the final ODI in Visakhapatnam with a 2-2 scoreline. But the Black Caps saved their worst for the last, capitulating for 79 to hand the hosts the trophy.
That game aside, New Zealand were toe-to-toe with India throughout the series, something no team has been able to come even close to. And as the Kiwis gear up for this three-match ODI series starting here on Sunday, they can take plenty of heart as well as confidence from that fact.
“It’s always a tough tour coming to India, as a lot of oppositions have found in recent times,” New Zealand captain Kane Williamson said in Mumbai on Sunday.
“To be 2-all going into that last game a year ago was a very good effort. We played some good cricket, but I don’t think we played a complete performance. To go into the last game and perform like that, it was disappointing. It’s nice to be back here again and the guys are looking forward to the tour,” he added.
The Kiwi skipper believes a major lesson they took home from the last series was learning to adapt quickly to different types of surfaces on offer, which the Australians failed to do in their recently-concluded tour.
“Naturally, spin in this part of the world is always a key factor, one that you know that you’re going to come up against in the majority of the overs. But I think coming over here, we play on some very good surfaces and then you play on some that are more challenging, spin a lot more,” Williamson said.
“In our last series, we saw glimpses of a variety of surfaces. At times, you’ve seen games where 350 or 380 (is scored), and at other times you’ve seen a winning score being 250. Being flexible with your approach is very important. You have dew factor and you had a number of things that came into it. So, it is important that we are flexible and we adapt well,” he added.
Part of that adaptation factor will come against Kuldeep and Chahal, the spin duo which has bamboozled the Aussies with its craft. And just like their Trans-Tasman rivals, the Kiwis, too, wouldn't have played them much at the international level.
However, the 27-year-old Williamson is optimistic that his boys will be up for that test too.
“They both have been very successful. We know it will be a tough challenge, but one that guys are looking forward to. It’s not too many chinaman bowlers going around. It’s a challenge that the guys are looking forward to. Obviously, their skill-sets are very good, but they also adapting to surfaces will be one of the most important things,” he said.
On preparations for the series
"(We're here) 12 days earlier before our first game, which is great for preparation coming into it. India have been playing plenty of cricket. We have been following the Australian series very closely and it’s been a good competition. It’s important for us not to take too much baggage from history results and get up for the challenge we are going to face in a week or two."
On no Jadeja and Ashwin in Team India
"There are so many quality players within the Indian squad and they have been playing so much cricket lately that it’s only natural that certain players are rested certain times. At times, throughout the summer, when we had busy schedules, we did the same thing. It’s impossible for everyone to play all formats all the time because the schedule is so dense. It’s the nature of it, but you always know that the team India put out will be very strong."
On Hardik Pandya's recent growth
"Certainly in the last year or two, he’s been playing outstandingly well. We saw it in the IPL and even in the series against us, he bowled very well. Now, we’re seeing him come along with the bat and making contributions that any team would be pretty happy to have from their all-rounder. He’s a very vital player for the Indian side in terms of a fast bowling all-rounder."
