India split their coaching staff after Hamilton as Kotak and Morkel move to the Test camp

India's touring party will break into two groups after Tuesday's third ODI in Hamilton, with Sitanshu Kotak and Morne Morkel leaving for the Test camp in Wellington while Gautam Gambhir stays with the one-day side

Batting coach Sitanshu Kotak set out the plan at Seddon Park on Monday, on the eve of the third one-day international against New Zealand. India lead the five-match series 2-0, and the red-ball half of the touring party is already looking past it to a Test series that begins on 19 November.

Kotak and fast-bowling coach Morne Morkel are expected to leave for Wellington once the Hamilton match is done, taking charge of the Test group's preparation. Head coach Gautam Gambhir and spin-bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule are likely to travel with the one-day squad to Mount Maunganui for the last two ODIs.

"Me, Morne and some other staff will go to Wellington," Kotak said. None of it is signed off yet. "Gautam will make the final decision. It can change, but this is how it will likely be."

Five or six sessions before the first Test

The Test squad's camp opens in Wellington on 11 November, the day after the Hamilton ODI, and runs into the week of the first match.

By Kotak's count that leaves five or six full sessions before the opening Test of a two-match series on 19 November, a short window by the standards of an away assignment in New Zealand.

"Overall, the preparation has been very solid," he said. "Fingers crossed, we should be well-prepared for the Test series as well."

Three quicks stay back as net bowlers

Three fast bowlers from the one-day squad are expected to stay in New Zealand rather than travel on with the ODI group, working as net bowlers and sitting on standby for the Tests.

"I think three bowlers. Gurnoor, maybe Nabi, and I think Arsh is also staying back," Kotak said, naming Gurnoor Brar, Auqib Nabi and Arshdeep Singh.

All three have been part of the ODI squad on this tour, and keeping them in the country gives the Test batters seam bowling to face in Wellington without flying in cover.

Gambhir stays with the one-day group

Kotak said Gambhir "will have to be here" with the ODI side, pointing to the 2027 one-day World Cup as the reason the head coach's attention stays with that format through the back end of this series.

India play their last two ODIs at Mount Maunganui, where a 2-0 lead can become a 5-0 tour if the one-day side holds its form.

Kotak was careful to describe the split as a working plan rather than a decision already taken, with the head coach free to change it after Hamilton.

What the one-day pitches have shown

The surfaces in this series have swung early and then offered seam movement and awkward bounce once the shine was gone, and Kotak said that had given the staff something to carry into their Test planning.

He was equally clear that the traffic would not run the other way. "Nobody will bring Test-match adjustments into white-ball cricket," he said.

Red-ball work already under way

Kotak also pointed to the three India A fixtures in New Zealand, which have given the red-ball players weeks of first-class cricket in the conditions before the senior series.

The last of them, at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln, is still going. India A declared on 464 for 5 and New Zealand A were 36 for 2 at stumps on day three, still 428 behind.

The third ODI starts at Seddon Park on Tuesday, with India able to settle the series before their coaching staff goes its separate ways.