Bracewell progressing 'really good' as NZ prepare for varied conditions

New Zealand allrounder Michael Bracewell, who missed the recent five-match T20I series against India with a calf injury, could recover in time for the start of the T20 World Cup. Bracewell will have a chance to prove his match fitness in New Zealand's warm-up fixture against USA in Mumbai, three days out of their tournament opener against Afghanistan in Chennai.

"I mean his progression has been really good and he's made good progress," New Zealand head coach Rob Walter said. "Certainly everything seems to be on track for the warm-up game against USA."

Despite being in India for three weeks, New Zealand couldn't play their best XI in any of the games because of injuries and unavailability of players. They came close to playing their full-strength XI towards the fag end of the five-match T20I series, but allrounder Jimmy Neesham fell ill and they also decided against rushing Lockie Ferguson back into action, which disrupted their combination once again.

Though Neesham hasn't played for the Black Caps since November 2025, he has been active in franchise T20 cricket, having had stints in Bangladesh (BPL) and UAE (ILT20) whose conditions are not too different from those in India and Sri Lanka, the venues for the T20 World Cup.

"Jimmy, who was a bit ill at the back end of this competition, was obviously very much involved in the Bangladesh Premier League all the way through to winning a final," Walter said. "So our guys have been very active from a T20 point of view, mostly involved in the series as well. So from a preparation point of view, I feel like we can't really feel to be unready."

New Zealand also have another player who is fresh off winning an overseas T20 league. After clattering 38 sixes, the most by a batter in a single BBL season, for Perth Scorchers, Finn Allen brought that big-hitting to India, cracking 80 off 38 balls, which tested India's attack to some extent. On the day, Allen even took on mystery spinner Varun Chakravarthy, hitting him for 19 off eight balls.

"I think you would expect that the conditions are very different in Australia to India," Walter said. "So the question always to ask is, can form transfer from venue to venue? We certainly saw that happen. So it was wonderful to see his run of form continue and long may it continue."

Walter was also buoyed by the return of Ferguson from injury, in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup. After hurting his calf during the ILT20, and subsequently withdrawing from the BBL, Ferguson marked his return in the fifth T20I against India with a double-strike. He operated at full-tilt, snagging both Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson with trademark rapid deliveries on a flat pitch.

With Adam Milne sidelined from the T20 World Cup, Ferguson will be New Zealand's enforcer in the competition. He has also developed the knuckle ball, which could be useful in India and Sri Lanka.

"He has worked incredibly hard to get himself ready for the World Cup and ready to play the game [fifth T20I]," Walter said of Ferguson. "And he said he was going to ease into it, but he was bowling 145. So if that's him easing in, I'm looking forward to seeing what's to come.

"But yeah, it's always great to see someone with extra pace like that and the impact that it had on the style of the game in particular. So wonderful to have him back with a fern on his chest."

The fifth T20I between India and New Zealand produced 496 runs, the second-highest match aggregate in T20I cricket. Overall, the series, which was largely played on placid pitches, was an extremely high-scoring one, but Walter expects the pattern to change during the World Cup, where there's a lot more at stake.

"I think it [scores] could be varied," Walter said. "Very often sort of the intent changes a little bit when there's a little bit more on the results. And perhaps that might not be the case for some pool games. But certainly when it gets to the back end of the tournament, not often you see that sort of freedom played with because obviously the potential result sort of stifles the play a little bit more. That being said, the overall the scores tend to have increased in T20 cricket.

"So that's something we've come to expect. But I don't want to take anything away from the way that the Indian batters have batted in this series for four out of the five games. It's been pretty impressive and put us under big pressure."

New Zealand will play three of their four group-stage games in Chennai and those three games at Chepauk will have day-time starts: 11am against Afghanistan on February 8, 3pm against UAE on February 10, 11am against Canada on February 17. The Chepauk recently underwent a makeover with the entire outfield being dug up and relaid. Though the pitches were untouched - the venue has not hosted a competitive game since IPL 2025 in April - its conditions are an unknown quantity, with Chennai Super Kings also suggesting they have struggled to read the surfaces of late. Mitchell Santner has backed New Zealand to problem-solve and adapt to whatever is thrown at them.

"We've had a few players who played at Chennai (CSK) recently in the IPL throughout our careers," Santner said at his press conference in Thiruvananthapuram. "I think the last couple of years have showed Chennai is a pretty good wicket. Day game again, it's going to be slightly different. The guys are going to have to reset their clocks and try to get up a little bit earlier.

"Again, it's a new challenge for us, we go to DY [Patil] for a warm-up game on red soil and then Chennai on black soil. Again, it's going to be slightly different and we pride ourselves on trying to adapt as quick as we can on surfaces and we're gonna have to do it throughout this World Cup."