That stoic gaze from the dugout may well soften up before the first ball is delivered at the Eden Gardens on Sunday. Rahul Dravid’s tenure as head coach of Team India has had a flying start with New Zealand, the team that jeopardised the Indian campaign in the recently-concluded T20 World Cup in the UAE, driven to the wrong end of a 2-0 series-clinching scoreline.

While some key players on both sides have given the T20Is the skip to put mind and matter into the Test series beginning later this month, the shortest version of the international game has been demanding increasing attention. Blame it on cricket’s latest cash cow.