Welcome to Raipur, the capital of Chhattisgarh, which will stage its maiden international game and become the country’s landmark 50th ODI venue when India take on New Zealand in the second ODI at the Shaheed Veer Narayan Singh International Stadium on Saturday night.
A sellout crowd of 50,000 spectators is expected. India have some white-ball issues to sort out before they dive into the much-awaited four-Test series against Australia in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in February-March.
There is, after all, an ODI World Cup later in the year, and every game will give the team some answers about the ideal team combination.
Flying high on Shubman Gill’s sublime form with the bat and Mohammed Siraj’s sizzling touch with the ball, the Men in Blue will still be looking to iron out a few critical flaws from their game.