An early autumn morning in this part of the country is easy to predict. Once the southeast monsoon starts to withdraw, the days begin to shorten rapidly and the Sun starts to play hide and seek.

With an active disturbance in the Bay of Bengal, Bengaluru’s overcast skies and damp underneath conditions wouldn’t have been out of place in New Zealand. That, however, will be of scant relief to the visitors whose upcoming assignment — win a series in India — is the hardest in the game today. Think about it as an extreme adventure sport; like a mountaineer going up Mount Everest from base camp with a faulty oxygen cylinder.

That’s even before you consider the Black Caps’ record in India. Two wins in 36 Tests, with the last win coming in the winter of 1988. Out of the 15 players in their squad, only one, Ajaz Patel, was even born when Richard Hadlee and John Bracewell bowled them to a famous win at the Wankhede.

Since that Test, they have featured in 19 further ones. Their record? 10 losses and nine draws. Of course, this isn’t just a New Zealand problem. Other teams — better ones, in fact — have landed on these shores with hope only to head back with bruised bones and shattered egos. For the record, India, three wins away from assuring themselves of a spot in next year’s World Test Championship final in England, is chasing a 19th consecutive series win on home soil. If recent history is anything to go by, this can safely be billed as a series between unstoppable force and a movable object.

When India’s coach Gautam Gambhir was asked about India’s invincible record at home — he was one of the two openers when the hosts last lost a series (England in 2012) — he said ‘Indian cricket has always been fortunate’. “Just the quality (why has India been invincible at home for a long time),” he said during the press conference on Monday.

“I think we always have the quality in our backyard. Not only when I was playing, probably before me as well, when we had people like Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh… I think it’s just the quality of players which we have got. And Indian cricket is always fortunate and Indian cricket will always be fortunate with the kind of talent that will come through from a first-class structure.”