India and New Zealand prepare to face off, led by two contrasting figureheads

Calmness personified, Williamson is the antithesis of Kohli, acting not on emotion but on cold, aloof logic. He is almost scientific by comparison

Ruthlessly efficient and quietly competent, Kane Williamson’s New Zealand are doing, well, what Kane Williamson’s New Zealand does.

Always at the scene of the crime but never under suspicion, they are – forgive the oxymoron – the likeable assassin. Three wins from three; each a different kind of victory, each led by a different mastermind, each against sides labelled as potential banana-skins for wannabe champions.

And perhaps, there is no side more dangerous to India at this early stage of the competition than one that deals in unfussy proficiency.

As an insatiable and obsessive circus straps itself to all things Kohli, his opposite number continues along in a conspicuous silence. Williamson is a slayer in the most fearsome sense; much like his team, he is calmness personified – the antithesis of Kohli, acting not on emotion but on cold, aloof logic. He is almost scientific by comparison.

If Matt Henry, Martin Guptill and Colin Munro starred in the 10-wicket demolition of Sri Lanka, then it was Ross Taylor and the calmness of Mitch Santner that clinched a narrow triumph over Bangladesh at The Oval.

Then, when Afghanistan’s armoury of mystery-spinners pitched up at Taunton, there was an unlikely leading role for the useful seamers of Jimmy Neesham. The right-armer took five wickets, while the tearaway power of Lockie Ferguson added four himself. And Williamson, facing the second ball of the innings after Guptill had perished to the first, calmed any nerves with a nerveless unbeaten 79.

Three games, eight match-winners. Tom Latham, meanwhile, without a score of any significance thus far, took five catches in the win over the Afghans.

There is an old adage about cricket being the most individual of team games. There is a case in this Black Caps side that such a notion is both entirely true and indisputably false.

^{Jimmy Neesham took five wickets in New Zealand's win over Afghanistan.}

India, on the other hand, are – quite simply – unable to enjoy such relative anonymity. It comes with the territory of representing a country that lives and breathes this sport. Every move of each member of Kohli’s touring party exists under permanent scrutiny. Each success is amplified, each failure exaggerated.

It makes New Zealand a horribly dangerous proposition. In a morning clash, the very thought of the qualities offered up by Tim Southee and Trent Boult will concern India’s rejigged top order. Shikhar Dhawan’s hundred against Australia came at the heady cost of a fractured thumb, with KL Rahul set to jump up the order to join the magnificent Rohit Sharma at the top.

Thus, Boult and Southee represent an intriguing challenge. Consistency personified, the duo have been at the forefront of so much of the good in New Zealand cricket’s recent past.

Boult, though, has yet to find his straps in this tournament, taking just three of the 30 wickets picked up by his side. His economy rate has remained solid, but without the searing threat of the left-armer’s fully firing best.

Southee has not yet been seen. An injury to his right calf has ruled him out of New Zealand’s opening trio of fixtures, but he is back fit and in contention ahead of this encounter with India at Trent Bridge.

Henry replaced him, taking seven wickets in his first two games, before becoming the victim to Afghanistan’s cavalier opening duo of Hazratullah Zazai and Noor Ali Zadran. That his return remains uncertain speaks volume of those around him.

Everything about these two sides makes this fixture a mightily exciting World Cup prospect: two strong teams both built in the image of their two vastly different captains.

It is a game, one senses, that both teams would happily have out of the way. By tomorrow night, it will be. And one unbeaten record will have fallen by the wayside.

Our coverage of the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 is brought to you in association with Cricket 19, the official video game of the Ashes. Order your copy now at Amazon.co.uk