Can New Zealand do an England 2012?

On the eve of their first match during their previous visit to India, New Zealand coach Mike Hesson asked the curator in Nagpur what the pitch was expected to do. Hesson says he was told it was a hard and bouncy pitch. New Zealand went ahead and left out Tim Southee and Trent Boult, played three spinners, attacked the new ball because they knew the old ball would be impossible to go after, scored just 126, but their spinners delivered them a 47-run win. New Zealand's reading of the conditions, and then adapting to them, were big reasons behind their unbeaten run in the league stages of the World T20.

That was Twenty20. This is Test cricket. New Zealand will draw confidence from that showing, but they won't be deluding themselves based on the World T20. This three-Test series has all the makings of this group's biggest test. New Zealand have only ever won two Tests in India, and may need to double that tally to win this series. But there is anticipation around them, mostly because of what they did in the World T20, in particular their two spinners whose performances suggested they could translate their promise into longer forms. Now, Mitchell Santner and Ish Sodhi are joined by Mark Craig.

Never in recent memory has more been expected of a New Zealand tour of India. Never in recent memory have India looked this dominant at home. India have three spinners with much more pedigree and experience of these conditions. Ever since India decided to play on pitches where the ball starts turning early and turns big, beating them in a home Test series has become arguably the biggest challenge in world cricket.

With cricket being a game of conditions, it couldn't be more loaded against New Zealand. The only preparation they have had in the move from their tracks to this intense, relentless trial by spin is two training sessions in Delhi, a three-day game on a flat track against unthreatening spinners, and two more training sessions in Kanpur. The heat is stifling. There is high humidity and no breeze in Kanpur right now.

The curator at Green Park has said the turn won't be as alarming as it was in Nagpur, but the pitch looks really dry and has cracks. In unusual scenes two days before the Test, the ground staff asked some net bowlers to bowl on the match pitch. It is technically allowed - the pitch is handed over to the match referee on the morning of the Test - but this is hardly ever done. The "poor" rating for the Nagpur pitch after the Test against South Africa last year plays on the minds of groundsmen now. There were no puffs of dust, which relieved them. However, there was turn. Don't be surprised either if the spinners' business area is drier and rougher than the rest of the pitch, negating Neil Wagner's bounce, and accentuating the turn.

"He hasn't told us it is hard and bouncy as the Nagpur groundsman did," Hesson joked when asked about any conversations he might have had with the groundstaff here.

Hesson is not surprised by what he has seen. "Unless some grass grows over the next two days, there will be plenty of assistance for the spinners," he said. "I think the pitch will deteriorate, as it should. Spin will play a massive part, as will reverse swing. So there are no surprises here."

Hesson knows knowing what to expect is different from reacting to it. If one jumps at them, Ravindra Jadeja will keep firing in that general area all day with slight variation of angle, and let the pitch do the rest. R Ashwin will add dip to it. He will swerve it with the new ball. Amit Mishra will add the legspinner's X-factor. There will be catchers around, there will be deep fielders to choke easy runs, and there will be no relenting from the heat and humidity. Not in Kanpur and Kolkata at least.

The ability to respond with a clear mind and quick feet when the ball starts jumping and staying low comes with solid defence and lots of practice playing on such tracks. Knowing the international schedules today, Hesson said this is possibly the best preparation his side could have had. He has now put it down to the ability to adapt.

"The conditions here are slightly different than they were in Delhi," Hesson said. "It's up to today and tomorrow to make sure we adapt the best we can. And we know even during the game the pitch is going to change, so we have to keep adjusting."

Hesson summed up the dual challenge of playing India in these conditions by saying that you have to prepare for the worst, but, at the same time, guard against "jumping at shadows", by building it up too much and failing to recognise easier conditions when they come their way.

"We have watched the Test matches against South Africa, absolutely," Hesson said. "We saw the conditions in that series, and they were challenging. There is no doubt about that. If you prepare, over-train in terms of preparing for those conditions and then you get something slightly better, then that's great. You have got to prepare for the harshest conditions and see how it goes from there.

"I think you can jump at shadows at times [if you prepare for the worst]. I think you need to adapt to what you are confronted with. We have got an idea how we think how the surface might play, but it might be quite different. We are capable of adapting."

Adapting quickly won them games in the World T20, but there won't be any quick wins here. "We have won two Test matches in our history here," Hesson said. "So we know it is a tough place to come and win, as it is for any touring side. And India are playing good cricket at the moment, but we have got a group of cricketers who will be highly competitive. That's our challenge - to be highly competitive and stay in the game for long periods of time. Then, anything can happen."

There is no set formula to beat India in India in this mood, but England showed it can be done if you have four attributes: a solid defensive batsman in Alastair Cook, who showed to the rest that it was possible to bat, a maverick in Kevin Pietersen, who could drive the nail in, two spinners in Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann, who were accurate and quick, and reverse swing in James Anderson. Lower-order runs can be a big factor as South Africa learned in their defeat, despite having reduced India to 120-odd for 6 on more than one occasion.

New Zealand have a defensive batsman in Williamson, they have a potential maverick if Ross Taylor can have a big series, they have a variety of spinners, although unproven at this level, and they have the possibility of reverse swing. They bat deep. If all, or most these factors click, they can take games deep. Then, anything can happen.