India will split their coaching staff in two after the third one-day international against New Zealand in Hamilton, with head coach Gautam Gambhir staying with the ODI side while batting coach Sitanshu Kotak and fast-bowling coach Morne Morkel take charge of Test preparations in Wellington.

The plan, outlined by Kotak at a press conference in Hamilton on Monday, is designed to let India prepare for two formats at the same time during a tour that moves quickly from white-ball cricket to a two-Test series. The first Test begins on 19 November.

Under the arrangement, Gambhir and spin-bowling coach Sairaj Bahutule will travel with the ODI squad to Mount Maunganui for the final two matches of the five-match series. Kotak and Morkel will instead join the Test squad for a dedicated pre-series camp in Wellington.

Why India are dividing the coaching group

Kotak said the split reflected the competing demands of the tour and the longer-term importance of the ODI format, with the next 50-over World Cup scheduled for 2027. India lead the ODI series 2-0 after winning the first two matches, in Auckland and Wellington.

"[The plan] can still change, but as far as I know, obviously Gautam will have to be here - the one-day World Cup is coming [in 2027], so he will be staying here and probably Sairaj will stay here," Kotak said. "Me, Morne and some other staff will go to Wellington."

Kotak stressed that nothing was final. "That's the plan, but like I said, Gautam will make the final decision. It can change, but this is how it will likely be. We'll just try and see that their loading, their fitness, their practice - we do as much preparation as the conditions permit."

Five or six sessions before the first Test

The Test camp in Wellington is due to begin on 11 November and give the squad five or six practice sessions before the series opener, according to CricTracker. Kotak said the sessions would focus on fitness, workload management and practice shaped by the conditions India have already encountered on tour.

He said the pitches used in the ODI series had offered swing early on, followed by seam movement and awkward bounce, and that those observations would feed directly into Test preparation. "Overall, the preparation has been very solid," he said. "On top of that, the Test players will have a camp starting on the 11th, giving us five to six sessions."

Kotak also plans to use the camp to prepare batters for the different situations a Test match can produce, from batting first after losing the toss to chasing in the fourth innings. He said his approach would vary from player to player, depending on how each batter likes to score and which shots the New Zealand conditions allow.

Test players to miss the final ODIs

Several Test specialists will not play the fourth and fifth ODIs in Mount Maunganui. Batters Shubman Gill and KL Rahul, seamers Anshul Kamboj and Mohammed Siraj, and wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav are all part of the Test squad and will instead head to Wellington with Kotak and Morkel.

Three fast bowlers from the ODI squad are also expected to stay on in New Zealand to support the Test group as net bowlers and reserve players. Kotak named them as Gurnoor Brar, Auqib Nabi and Arshdeep Singh. Brar has been India's leading wicket-taker in the ODI series, with seven wickets in the first two matches, including career-best figures of four for 30 in Wellington.

Gambhir and Bahutule are expected to rejoin the Test contingent in Wellington once the ODI series is complete. For now, though, India are running two campaigns at once: an ODI series they lead 2-0, and a Test series for which the groundwork is already being laid more than a week before the first ball.