Black Caps captain Mitch Santner with the Champions Trophy. Photo: Andrew Cornaga/www.photosport.nz
If the Black Caps lose on the opening day of the Champions Trophy on 19 February they will instantly be on the back foot.
The Champions Trophy is one of the quickest ICC tournaments to be played.
The journey to be World Test Championship winners takes years.
The 2023 one-day world cup took champions Australia 11 matches over 42 days to lift the trophy, last year's T20 World Cup took nine games to win in the space of a month.
To secure the Champions Trophy for the second time the Black Caps need to win at most five games in 19 days.
Coach Gary Stead believed four wins might be enough.
But the length of the tournament left little room for error.
New Zealand won the 2000 version of the tournament when it was known as the ICC KnockOut Trophy, defeating India by four-wickets in Nairobi, Kenya.
The tournament is for the top eight ODI sides and New Zealand were in the same group as Pakistan, India and Bangladesh this year.
Due to political tensions between Pakistan and India, all of India's games will be played in the neutral venue of Dubai - meaning New Zealand will play matches in Karachi, Dubai and Rawalpindi.
New Zealand open their campaign against Pakistan in the very first game of the tournament, a match the hosts would be favourites to win in home conditions.
Black Caps captain Mitch Santner viewed the Champions Trophy as being different to a world cup in the way the side needed to approach it.
"Over a long tournament I think the best team does come out on top in ODI world cups when you play everyone once but in these short tournaments we've seen guys get on a roll and you can use that momentum and take it forward.
"It's literally who turns up on the day and outplays your opponent and you move on pretty quickly to another opponent in different conditions again so it's going to be a challenge.
"But the group we've got, we've been together for a little while now with a mix of guys who have been there and done that in major events, so I think we're in a good spot."
Kane Williamson will play twice for the Black Caps before the Champions Trophy. Photo: Photosport
Santner said the lead-in to the tournament was an important factor in making sure the Black Caps were ready to go from game one.
New Zealand's build up to last year's T20 World Cup had been questioned after the side played no warm-up games.
The majority of the Champions Trophy squad had played in this month's ODI series against Sri Lanka in New Zealand and Stead expected all members of the squad including Kane Williamson, Devon Conway and Lockie Ferguson - who had been playing in T20 franchise competitions around the world - to be available for two games before the tournament either in the tri-series or a warm-up game.
"The group will be together for a long time leading into the tournament which is always a good thing. We go to Pakistan 3 February and it's 16 days before the Champions Trophy starts, so we will have plenty of time for the guys to be gelling and ready to go," Santner said.
Should the tournament not start with a win for New Zealand, Santner believed they could still turn their fortunes around.
"If we potentially lose that first game we then have an opportunity to upset India in Dubai and then it goes back to run-rate so you're not fully out of it.
"You've got to get over [a loss] pretty quickly. There is a few days between each game so we can reassess, but it's different conditions and we know Bangladesh will still be a challenge in those conditions."
Santner said they knew their best 11 ahead of the Champions Trophy but were willing to tinker with the side if needed.
Ben Sears returns from injury to potentially play his first ODI for New Zealand. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
Five pace bowlers and four spin options had been named - including Wellington fast bowler Ben Sears who could make his ODI debut at the tournament after recovering from a knee injury.
"We like to stick to the same team once we've picked it but it'll probably be very condition dependent.
"Karachi could play very different to Rawalpindi and again in Dubai, so with the short nature of the tournament if you're kinda happy on your eleven, you want them to be out there and performing for all three games but we're open to changes depending on conditions."
The other group for the tournament was made up of South Africa, Australia, Afghanistan and England.
The top two teams from each group progress to the semi-finals with the final to be played on 9 March.
Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
