Rainy conditions at Mumbai may work in the Blackcaps' favour, as they chase an historic test series win in India.
The iconic Wankhede Stadium has been deluged leading up to the start of the second test on Friday and a delayed start to play on day one now seems inevitable.
The heavy rain has seen the pitch under covers for the past few days, which could combine with the low cloud to serve up near ideal conditions for the NZ seamers, particularly Tim Southee.
The swing specialist thrived on a relatively lifeless wicket in the first test at Kanpur, with an eight-wicket haul, including first-innings figures of 5/69.
While the 32-year-old veteran admits the pitch is still a relatively unknown quantity, he hopes for some friendly assistance when he takes the red ball.
"The wicket has been under covers for a while now," notes Southee. "We have to see how that shapes up.
"It's a different challenge, but we also have to factor in how the wicket would behave for the next 5-6 days. We have to adapt to it."
"You try to assess the conditions as quickly as you can. With the covers on, it may offer more swing, but who knows."
The Blackcaps spin trio of Ajaz Patel, Will Sommerville and Rachin Ravindra struggled to make headway at Kanpur, and given the forecast over the coming days, veteran seamer Neil Wagner will likely move back into the starting XI at Sommerville's expense.
Towering quick Kyle Jamieson will also hope to take advantage of the more seam-friendly conditions and reprise his impressive first-test performance, when he became the fastest NZ player to reach 50 test wickets.
Jamieson's overall figures of 6/141 in just his ninth test match saw him overtake Shane Bond, who held the previous mark of 12 tests.
"It's certainly a proud moment for myself and for my family," Jamieson says, reflecting on his achievement.
"It's a bit different to how I started my first-class career - it took me four innings to get my first wicket - so to get 50 in the amount of games I did was a bit contrasting
"For me, I look at the guys I've been able to follow. Bondy, who had that record... to be able to follow in his footsteps, after idolising him, is pretty special."
The Blackcaps have the opportunity to claim another slice of history at Mumbai, where the chance to become the first New Zealand team to win a test series in India beckons.
The visitors haven't won a test in the cricketing stronghold since 1989, but Jamieson insists that drought has no bearing on how the team have prepared for the second test.
"We certainly know there are going to be a lot of tough days and tough sessions and tough moments to try and tackle over the next while," he says.
"But to have the opportunity to win a test series in India is certainly something that excites us, and something we'll be going hard to try and achieve over the next three, four, five days."
Join us from 5pm Friday for live updates of the second test between the Blackcaps and India
