New Zealand are usually one of the best-prepared teams for world tournaments, which lets them even the scales against teams that have larger populations to choose from. They need to latch onto any small advantage in order to have the kind of proud record they have: making at least the semi-finals in the last four World Cups.

Four years since losing in the final to a cruel boundary countback rule, New Zealand begin what will almost certainly be the most attended World Cup against the same opposition, but without perhaps that extra preparation advantage of advance scouting.

This is a weird old tournament. New Zealand made it to the venue of the tournament opener in Ahmedabad two days before the match but had not been to the ground even once when their stand-in captain Tom Latham spoke to the press. The day was jam-packed with a quick training session to be followed by a launch event involving all the captains.

India is anyway a tough place to scout. There are so many venues that they have to wait years to get their next ODI, which gives little data about the characteristics of the surfaces. Some venues – such as Ahmedabad – have two different kinds of soil on the square with two completely different sets of behaviour.

To make it worse, the teams have hardly played their full-strength squads between the two World Cups, either through injury or preserving their best players in what have become gruelling schedules.

All this makes it critical that New Zealand’s other celebrated quality – adaptability, which is not independent of the scouting – does the heavy lifting. That is what Latham spoke the most about in his press conference on the eve of the World Cup opener.

“Obviously, the end goal is to be there at the end [of the tournament], which I’m sure every team has,” Latham said when asked if he was confident they could adapt. “But I think something we pride ourselves on as a group is being able to adapt as best we can. We are lucky that we have guys who have played plenty of cricket in these parts of the world, whether it be against India or in the IPL.

“We have got that mix of experience where we are able to lean on guys around. [Some] guys have played at this ground, some guys haven’t. So adapting is a really important part of playing over in these conditions that can change throughout the game. It is being able to think on our feet a little bit and make sure we stay ahead of the game.”

The build-up to the tournament hasn’t been great for New Zealand. They are effectively selecting from a squad of 13 for the first match: Kane Williamson and Tim Southee are recovering from their injuries and are not yet ready.

Since the band is not yet properly together, it hasn’t perhaps put them in a contemplative mood around how some of them might be coming towards the end of a golden run of three or four World Cups.

“I’m sure guys don’t want to jump the gun,” Latham said. “Everyone is in a slightly different situation in terms of what the future may look like. But for us, we are trying to enjoy the next sort of couple of months together as a group, and have it however that pans out. Hopefully for the good. We are just trying to enjoy each other’s company over the next period of time at such a special occasion playing cricket over here in India. Embrace what comes with being over here, I’m sure guys will make decisions around what that may look like for them in the future.”

Latham on Williamson: It’s like he had never left

“It’s obviously great to see Kane back, to see him batting. It’s like he had never left to be honest, in terms of with the bat. It’s great to see him moving really well. He is playing all the shots that he used to play, which is great, and to see him back in the field is another stepping stone in terms of where he needs to get to in terms of his recovery. It’s a day-by-day process with him making sure that whenever he is available he has ticked everything off all that he needs to do.”

Southee is tracking along well, says Latham

“He is tracking along really well. He is nearly two weeks post-surgery. So for him, it’s a day-by-day process as well in terms of making sure that he is in the right frame in terms of bowling and fielding. I’m sure once he gets back into his skill, he will be willing to go if that opportunity comes.”