India were found wanting against five-time world champions Brazil and two-time Olympic winners Uruguay during international friendlies last month. But a draw against Panama showed Khalid Jamil’s side could measure up to the challenge against a team that featured at the most recent FIFA World Cup.Panama experimented with new players, had little time to train as well, but in holding the World Cuppers 1-1 at home, India received plenty of praise. Fans will now expect a similar brave performance against New Zealand in the first of the two international friendlies at the Go Media Stadium in Auckland on Thursday.The fixture marks India’s first-ever visit to New Zealand and will be the third senior international meeting between the two sides after 1981 and 2018.“Last window, we played against three strong teams, and now we have another strong opponent in New Zealand,” said Jamil. “This time, we are playing away from home, so it will be a different kind of test for us. We have to be ready, work hard, and give our best in both matches.”Jamil has had to make adjustments to his squad with two key players – Anwar Ali and Apuia – injured. He was forced to include players he had released for SAFF Championship duty and will now expect them to deliver.India are ranked 138th in the world while New Zealand are placed 88th.The players are new to New Zealand, except for Ryan Williams, who travelled here before with Perth Glory in the A-League and was part of Australia’s U-20 side that faced New Zealand at the international level.“It’s a really cool couple of games for us,” said Williams. “Coming off the back of playing Panama, Brazil and Uruguay, we’ve got that taste for wanting to play teams that have been in the World Cup. We’ve learned a lot from those games and know how we can improve.“There were periods in those three games when it didn’t look like there was much difference. Our goal is to take that forward and try to sustain those good periods for longer against equally strong teams. These are teams that have all played in the World Cup, and that’s where we aspire to be as a country. The more games we play against these big teams, the better it will be for everyone.”The New Zealand squad is headlined by Premier League forward Chris Wood, who is New Zealand’s all-time leading scorer with 45 goals in 95 senior internationals. Indian-origin midfielder Sarpreet Singh, however, will not feature in the series.
