Limited number of players might be a reason, but the ground is a big reason in my view. During the month of November the climate condition in Dubai will be so cool and that might ease the New Zealand players get adopted to it with ease and play better. When they play at the Indian ground it'll be little difficult for them to get adopted to the varying climate condition.
It is quite hard to get adapted to the situations of The ground. Yes, we know that the situation in India is not very favorable for Newzealand so we can expect their performance to drop a little. But I really don't think that should be an excuse.
To be best you need to perform well in every country, which in turn means adoption to every climate. India is much more cold these days then uae. If coldness is the case then situation in India are more favorable for NZ then in uae. Its very difficult to beat at there home grounds, they have very good wining record at home.