India will head into Saturday's match in Wellington with a 1-0 lead in the five-match ODI series after securing a rain-affected win in the opening game in Auckland on Wednesday. The visitors chased down a DLS-revised target of 143 to take the early advantage.

However, rain could once again play spoiler, with showers forecast in Wellington on Saturday, raising the possibility of another weather-affected contest.

India captain Shubman Gill also revealed that he arrived early to get in some extra training sessions, particularly to get a feel for the red ball and understand the local conditions.

"I wanted to get four or five extra sessions before I joined the team, mainly because of the red ball. I wanted to come here, work a little bit on my game, and see how the red ball behaves because I haven't played a Test match here. I've played a couple of India A matches, but haven't really played that much Test cricket here," Gill said.

He also backed India's pace attack, expressing confidence in Anshul Kamboj, Aaqib Nabi Dar, Gurnoor Brar, and Arshdeep Singh, saying their skill sets are well suited to New Zealand's conditions.

"With the wickets seaming around and giving good bounce, our fast bowlers, whether it is Anshul, Aaqib, Gurnoor, or Arshdeep, I think the skill set that they bring to the team in these conditions is tailor-made for them, and I'm really optimistic that they're going to have a really good series," he said.

Gill further praised the team's performance in the preceding T20I series, which India won 3-2, saying the comeback victories in the opening two matches gave the side significant momentum ahead of the ODIs.

"I think he (Shreyas) led the T20 series beautifully. You know, playing in a country like New Zealand and winning the first two matches is never easy, and even more so given the kind of situation we were in in the first and second T20s. Making a comeback from there, you know, those are the kind of matches that completely change the momentum. Now the momentum is with us, having won that series, and a lot of our boxes are ticked. New Zealand will look to come hard at us, which I think we are well prepared for," he said.

India will now look to strengthen their position in the series with another victory in Wellington.

Gill also believes the ongoing ODI series against New Zealand will provide the team with valuable preparation for next year's World Cup, as the conditions in the country are expected to be similar to those likely to be encountered during the showpiece event. With the World Cup scheduled to be played in October and November, Gill feels the timing of the series in early November will offer India an opportunity to familiarise themselves with conditions that could prove crucial during the tournament.

"The conditions that we're going to get here are going to be a lot more similar to the ones that we're going to get in the World Cup, especially playing here in early November. Usually, whenever we play in South Africa or in New Zealand or in Australia, we play around December or January, whereas the World Cup is in November. So I think the conditions are going to be a lot more similar, and it's going to be a really good experience for us," Gill said in a video released by the BCCI on X.