The nations New Zealand are not often underdogs any more, but they will be here. Their population is 4.9m, whereas India’s is 1.4bn. So the Indian selectors have 278 times as many people to choose from as their NZ counterparts. In a more sombre league table – for coronavirus cases – the contrast is just as sharp, with India now second only to the United States, and New Zealand an enviable 180th. The rules of the game The match is a five-day Test, starting on Friday 18 June, with the option of a sixth to make up time lost to bad weather. The ball will be the Dukes, the bowlers’ best friend. The prize money is $1.6m (£1.13m) and there’s a mace to be held aloft by the winning captain, but the real prize on offer is glory.