India vs New Zealand: Rain keeps India indoors in Wellington; Siraj selection adds to intrigue

Wellington: Steady drizzle in Wellington on Friday forced New Zealand to shift their training to an indoor facility opposite the Basin Reserve, while India cancelled their training session and stayed back at their hotel on the eve of the second ODI of the five-match series on Saturday.The turnaround time between the Auckland and Wellington fixtures permitted only one practice session for both teams following their travel day on November 5. While players who were part of India's T20I set-up have already had a taste of the windy Welly, most will walk straight into action, hoping to acclimatise quickly. New Zealand poses stiff challenges, and the varying ground dimensions and weather conditions across the country present different hurdles to overcome.From the short straight at Eden Park to the shorter square at Hnry Stadium, even the bowlers from both teams will need to make that quick adjustment because what worked in Auckland may or may not reap rewards in Wellington. For Kiwi quick Blair Tickner, it's about getting the work done in whatever time you get and finding the right balance between fixtures."We still do a bit of bowling between. You can't do it every time, there's guys going in and out of the session and we're just balancing that, and a lot of guys going to Test cricket as well, so there's a lot of balance happening. We have a great team and they are all sort of scheduling each bowler where they need to be, so now it's working so far, so good," said Tickner on the cramped schedule."I'm still coming back from a few injuries in the winter, so I'm sort of trying to bowl a bit more. I love bowling, getting that rhythm right, so I'm definitely still bowling in training and getting me to it," added the fast bowler, who flexed his muscles by smashing four massive sixes in Auckland.Tickner enjoyed putting on a show for the crowd but now wants to put up an improved performance with the ball at a venue where Abhishek Sharma blew the hosts away with a 38-ball 113. With lessons learnt, New Zealand will continue to come hard at India, and attack will be the mantra for the hosts."If the perfect plan works out, we are going to be attacking and get early wickets. That's the dream, and every one day team's bowling attack wants to bowl teams out, so we're looking to bowl teams out first before thinking about defensive play. We'll work it out there," said Tickner.Siraj has joined the team and is available for selection, but the management will take a call, whether he will play or not.Mohammed Siraj or Auqib Nabi?India will have to decide whether to bench Nabi to make way for Siraj, who joined the team after finishing his India A duties. The experienced fast bowler linked up with the squad in Wellington and remains available for selection. A practice session could have offered hints about the team management's thinking, but fielding coach Subhadeep Ghosh kept his selection cards close to his chest."Siraj has joined the team and is available for selection, but the management will take a call whether he will play or not," said Ghosh.Given the weather conditions, it looks increasingly difficult for India to alter their bowling combination, and the only toss-up could be between Siraj and Nabi.There is a strong forecast of rain on match day as well, and the fans could be in for another frustrating day of cricket when the two teams take the field.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.