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India squad announcement for New Zealand ODIs LIVE Updates: While the T20I World Cup around the corner might be the focus of New Zealand’s tour of India this January, there will first be three ODIs for the two teams to compete in as we enter the year leading up to the 2027 ODI World Cup. With 22 months to go before that tournament in South Africa, now is the time for experimentation and to begin putting the right pieces in play – which, in combination with a tight schedule coming up, might convince the BCCI’s selection panel to provide some chances to players on the fringe of national selection.
With the squad announcement pushed to within a week of the 3-match series, there has been a solid round of Vijay Hazare Trophy matches to use as a reference point for this series. Some key players who are also in the T20I team might be rested – including Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah – which opens the door for players like Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel, who have enjoyed strong tournaments thus far domestically.
Equally, there is going to be a focus placed on the fitness of Shreyas Iyer, who has been out of action since October. The batter has been enroute towards recovery, but this could prove to be a series too soon – therefore another chance for the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad to make their case, or for some shuffling of the batting order.
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With the squad announcement pushed to within a week of the 3-match series, there has been a solid round of Vijay Hazare Trophy matches to use as a reference point for this series. Some key players who are also in the T20I team might be rested – including Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah – which opens the door for players like Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel, who have enjoyed strong tournaments thus far domestically.
Equally, there is going to be a focus placed on the fitness of Shreyas Iyer, who has been out of action since October. The batter has been enroute towards recovery, but this could prove to be a series too soon – therefore another chance for the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad to make their case, or for some shuffling of the batting order.
With the squad announcement pushed to within a week of the 3-match series, there has been a solid round of Vijay Hazare Trophy matches to use as a reference point for this series. Some key players who are also in the T20I team might be rested – including Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah – which opens the door for players like Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel, who have enjoyed strong tournaments thus far domestically.
Equally, there is going to be a focus placed on the fitness of Shreyas Iyer, who has been out of action since October. The batter has been enroute towards recovery, but this could prove to be a series too soon – therefore another chance for the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad to make their case, or for some shuffling of the batting order.
India squad announcement for New Zealand ODIs LIVE Updates: With Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakravarthy key members of the T20I team, they might be rested for the ODI series. India do like employing spinners en masse when at home, but all their options outside of those two recently have been spin-bowling all-rounders. The lack of a really penetrative attacking wrist-spinner in the ranks has been a point of bother in recent months, and it might crop up here again – it’s a defensive, all-round group, and certainly good enough but still a red flag that India must work on. Anyone else from the VHT that the selectors could be considering as a try-out?
India squad announcement for New Zealand ODIs LIVE Updates: Reddy and Rana are two players who have been shown plenty of faith by Gambhir across formats, and their unique skillsets explain why. No, they aren’t the finished products – but they certainly deserve the time to be polished and forged into two players who, with the right treatment, could prove to be absolutely significant for India in years to come. With Pandya expected not to feature, responsibility on their shoulders in this series.
India squad announcement for New Zealand ODIs LIVE Updates: In case Shreyas Iyer remains unfit, the big discussion will be whether the number four spot will be retained temporarily by Ruturaj Gaikwad – now batting in that slot in VHT games as well – or whether Yashasvi Jaiswal will be allowed to keep opening, allowing Gill to move down to number 4. This was a plan for India leading up to the Champions Trophy before Iyer broke the door down with some excellent batting, and might see a return if the mood is one of testing out combinations. There is also an argument to let Gill stick to playing as the opener, a role he has had sucess in in this format.
India squad announcement for New Zealand ODIs LIVE Updates: Secretary Saikia mentions that he too will be involved in the selection meeting set to take place this afternoon, with the meet to take place in the afternoon. A couple of hours away from that moment, then.
India squad announcement for New Zealand ODIs LIVE Updates: One player whose position in the squad as a whole could be under threat is Rishabh Pant, who has travelled as backup wicketkeeper for KL Rahul but might now be edged out by Jurel. Pant has had a relatively quiet VHT, only one half-century in 4 matches as he captains Delhi. Jurel, meanwhile, has scored a century and two half-centuries at a phenomenal strike-rate of 137 – something that will appeal as an alternative to Rahul at number 5 or 6 in the team. Whispers have certainly been floating.
India squad announcement for New Zealand ODIs LIVE Updates: Devdutt Padikkal has been the player of the tournament so far in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, striking three centuries in four matches for Karnataka and lookin gin tremendous form. He has been batting in the top order for the team, which is a tough group to break into in this Indian ODI outfit – but the push to wait to name this squad might indicate that the selectors wanted to take the early rounds of the VHT into account. Can he carve a place for himself, not dissimilarly to how Ishan Kishan did for the T20Is with his SMAT performances?
India squad announcement for New Zealand ODIs LIVE Updates: The three ODI matches of the series will be played in the following venues:
Kotambi Stadium, Vadodara, to kick off international action in 2026 for India with the 1st ODI on January 11.
Niranjan Shah Stadium, Rajkot, for the second ODI on January 14.
Finally, Holkar Stadium in Indore, hosting the third and final ODI on January 18.
India squad announcement for New Zealand ODIs LIVE Updates: New Zealand’s squad for this series is also one full of players who will be looking to gain experience, with most of the big names and regular players chosen for the T20I series and asked to focus on that. This is more or less a second-string squad from the Kiwis, and their announcement gives the BCCI some license to try and name fresh players to their own squad – a good entry point for a lot of names who might not otherwise get too many opportunities at home. Interesting to see what direction they take.
India squad announcement for New Zealand ODIs LIVE Updates: Gill will likely mark his return after missing the South Africa ODIs, but there might be some key players who could remain out of the squad. Hardik Pandya was recovering from his own injury and might be saved for the World Cup, while Bumrah has also become a horses-for-courses type player who India try not to overuse. It wouldn’t be a shock at all if these two are rested from this series, with Kuldeep Yadav another candidate for a player who might be asked to gear up for the T20Is instead of the ODIs.
India squad announcement for New Zealand ODIs LIVE Updates: Shubman Gill was in line to lead Punjab for a pair of Vijay Hazare Trophy games this week in the lead up to the series, but Sportstar reports that he will miss out due to a bout of food poisoning. Should be back in time for Sunday’s first ODI, but is also expected to be present for the selection committee’s meeting today.
India squad announcement for New Zealand ODIs LIVE Updates: Another player who is in line to return for India in the format is veteran seamer Mohammed Shami. He has been out of action for India since the Champions Trophy, battling injury and having to put in the hard reps in domestic cricket. He has been in solid form for Bengal with the white ball, and with rest expected for some key players in this series, could be in line to make a return to the national team – all this, despite some barbs traded back and forth with Ajit Agarkar’s selection panel through the second half of last year.
India squad announcement for New Zealand ODIs LIVE Updates: One big focus from the squad announcement this afternoon will be whether or not Shreyas Iyer is included in the team. Iyer injured his spleen while fielding in Australia in the series in October, and has been out for the last portion of 2025: his rehab and recovery is still said to be slightly touch-and-go with regards to a return to play against New Zealand, but the Mumbai player will be hoping that he can come right back in to make his case as the set-and-forget number 4 for the team.
India squad announcement for New Zealand ODIs LIVE Updates: Kohli and Rohit’s national team appearances will begin to ramp up gradually after a fairly sparse summer through 2025. This will be their third ODI series since October, before another short break, but the games will begin to ramp up after that period. They enter after a couple of games in the Vijay Hazare Trophy each.
India squad announcement for New Zealand ODIs LIVE Updates: India are set to announce the ODI squad for the 3-match set against New Zealand for the ODIs beginning on January 11th. T20I squad has been announced, so with that in mind, plenty to consider for Agarkar and company. Lots to talk about. Stay tuned in!
