ICC World Cup 2023: India eye peak on mountain top!

The chilly snowcapped peaks of the Dhauladhar mountain ranges here are akin to the cool cricket that both India and New Zealandmdashthe tabletoppers of this World Cup with fouroutoffour winsmdashhave dished out so far But all that will change on Sunday when one of them will have a defeat across their name at the end of what is expected to be a thrilling contest between fast bowlers making full use of the traditionally pacefriendly track at the HPCA Stadium here and technically sound batsmenAlso ReadICC World Cup 2023 Who will fill the void of Hardik PandyaIn ICC events India have not beaten New Zealand since 2003 And with allrounder Hardik Pandya having twisted his left ankle in the last game against Bangladesh Tom Latham amp Co could not have picked a better time to have a go at the Men in BlueIndia head coach Rahul Dravid admitted that Pandyarsquos absence affects the teamrsquos balance ldquoHardik is an important player and allrounder for us and he helps balance our squad really well But hersquos going to miss this one so wersquoll have to see whatrsquos the best combination for these conditions But yes we might not have the kind of balance we used in the first four gamesrdquo Dravid said at the prematch press conferenceMumbairsquos bighitter Suryakymar Yadav could get his opportunity to bat at No 6 though some might argue that pacer Mohammed Shami makes for an equally good pick given the speedy conditions at the highaltitude venueSelection dilemma for IndiaDravid discussed the various permutations and combinations on offer ldquoWe are pretty clear on what our playing XI is tomorrow Sunday but I wouldnrsquot want to give too much away We can go with the three fast bowlers or three spinners With that we could play Ash R Ashwin and move Ravindra Jadeja up Also having someone like Shami sitting out and bringing him in this game is a great option Itrsquos also nice to have Ishan Kishan who has been playing well But Surya has got into some great form against Australia He played a couple of fantastic innings and is an absolutely fantastic player against spin Plus this may be for a middleovers role so if wersquore looking for someone who might be a bit of an enforcer for us in the lowermiddle order then Surya is certainly someone who can do thatrdquoThe former India captain was also all praise for the 2019 World Cup finalists insisting that the hosts will have to be at their absolute best to win this one ldquoThey NZ are a very good side and are playing very good cricket They play in India a lot They come on many lsquoArsquo tours to India and many of their players have played in the IPL so theyrsquore used to these conditions We were going through their squad during our strategy meetings and found that they have a lot of experience and depth as well Wersquoll have to be at our absolute best but we are very confidentrdquo he saidLatham confidentNZ skipper Latham meanwhile admitted that his pace battery led by Trent Boult have a job on their hands against Indiarsquos inform top order led by prolific striker Rohit Sharma ldquoIndiarsquos toporder has been fantastic in this tournament but our bowling attack has done a really good job up front as well So thatrsquos going to be a great contest with bat and ball and obviously vice versa with Indiarsquos seamers against our top order There are some pretty good matchups thererdquo he saidCurrently NZ are ahead of India in the points table only marginally on net runrate and thatrsquos exactly what Sundayrsquos clash promises to bemdasha game of fine margins2003The year India last beat NZ in an ICC tournament