Will New Zealand put up a fight?

Match Facts

Wednesday, December 1
Start time 14.30 (09.00 GMT)

First the good news: Daniel Vettori, who missed the first ODI, is fit to play the second game. However it's learnt that Brendon McCullum is a doubtful starter and New Zealand, who are already missing Jesse Ryder, have lost the services of Daryl Tuffey due to a bicep strain.

Of late, there seems to be a pattern to New Zealand's one-day chases. They appear to dawdle initially and allow the required rate to climb, and then lose wickets in a heap in a frantic effort to keep the chase on track. In the absence of three key players, it was always going to be difficult for New Zealand to put up a fight in the first one-dayer.

Without McCullum (if he doesn't get fit in time) and Ryder, much will depend on Ross Taylor. He had a very average Test series but took his first step towards regaining form with 66 in the first match. Martin Guptill provides aggression at the top and Kane Williamson adds stability in the middle. Gareth Hopkins, the wicketkeeper, has however been disappointing so far on this tour.

India would have been gladdened by a couple of developments in the first match. Virat Kohli hit his second successive hundred and the way he paced and built his innings stood out. R Ashwin too impressed with his control and composure in the Powerplays, while Munaf Patel caught the eye with a disciplined effort.

There were couple of concerns as well. Sreesanth picked up two wickets in the end but struggled with the new ball. His career economy rate is over six and he has struggled with his lengths in the shorter formats. Suresh Raina hit 71 against Australia in his last one-dayer before this series but went 15 games before that without a half-century. MS Dhoni had said he hoped that Raina will get a break after this match, ahead of the South Africa tour, but had added that it would depend on his performance in the first two games.

Form guide

(most recent first)

India: WWLWL
New Zealand: LLLLL

Kane Williamson looked solid in the Tests and has hit an ODI hundred against Bangladesh's spinners in his last series. The Jaipur track is reported to play slow and aid turn, and Williamson's skills will come to the fore.

M Vijay impressed with his brief, but skilful, innings in the first game on a wicket that aided the seamers initially. He played his shots and looked good for more before he threw his wicket away. It's something that we have seen in the past as well: he has been guilty of failing to convert starts. Can he play a big knock tomorrow?

The pitch is expected to play slow, but a bigger worry could be dew in the evening. "Obviously dew is a big factor, they do use the chemical to reduce its effect, but I don't think it makes much of a difference," Gautam Gambhir said. "The wicket appears to be on the slower side and it might a spin a bit. We could [play an extra spinner]. Because it looks a little dry, it might spin if we bowl first."

Vettori will replace Tuffey and, given the conditions, New Zealand could retain Nathan McCullum as well. They will hope that Brendon McCullum wins the race for fitness.

New Zealand (probable): 1 Jamie How, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Ross Taylor, 4 Scott Styris, 5 Kane Williamson, 6 Grant Elliott / James Franklin, 7 Daniel Vettori (capt), 8 Gareth Hopkins (wk), 9 Nathan McCullum, 10 Kyle Mills, 11 Andy McKay

With Gambhir mulling the possibility of playing an extra spinner, Ravindra Jadeja will fancy his chances of getting a game, coming in for either Sreesanth or Munaf Patel.

India (probable): 1 M Vijay, 2 Gautam Gambhir (capt), 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Yuvraj Singh, 5 Suresh Raina, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja , 8 Wriddiman Saha (wk), 9 Ashwin, 10 Sreesanth / Munaf Patel, 11 Ashish Nehra

"I spoke to the curator and he told me that the wicket on which Hyderabad got out for 21 [in the Ranji Trophy] had lots of grass on it and now they have shaved it off. But I don't think it's (the nature of the wicket) a concern because we have played on all kinds of wickets. Rather than worrying about the wicket we need to be thinking about what we should do."

Gautam Gambhir makes the right noises

"Duncan Fletcher is just here as a bit of a consultant, giving overviews. Obviously [he has] a lot of experience with international teams and working with individuals. He's only been here today so we're finding out about him and he's finding out about us and hopefully he can add some real value to the team."