India’s success in ODIs is anticipated to be fueled by Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma’s peak form when the full-strength hosts play a revamped New Zealand in the opening game of the three-match series in Vadodara on Sunday.
In the three ODIs over the next seven days, Kohli and Rohit will steal the show, even though attention is still focused on the T20 World Cup, which is less than a month away.
The two superstars, who each participated in a few games in the league round of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, have had enough of playing time and have amassed significant runs to demonstrate that they are not going away anytime soon.
Aside from the injuries that prevented him from playing most of the series against South Africa late last year, it is unclear how India captain Shubman Gill will react to being dropped from the T20 World Cup team.
However, Yashasvi Jaiswal, who got his first ODI century in the most recent game against South Africa, is probably going to be removed from the top order with Gill’s return.
31-year-old Shreyas Iyer, who is expected to reclaim his No. 4 place, should put a stop to a largely fruitless run of batting order experimentation.
Rishabh Pant will remain the second choice in the 50-overs format and will not be included in the starting lineup due to KL Rahul’s continuous role as a lower-order batsman and wicketkeeper.
Ravindra Jadeja trained hard on Friday, indicating his readiness, although Iyer, Pant, and Mohammed Siraj were not involved in the ODI series preparations in Vadodara in Kotambi until Saturday.
In order to keep Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya fresh for T20 assignments, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, and Prasidh Krishna will take over pace bowling duties.
The spin-bowling duties will be divided among Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar, and Jadeja in a format where the emphasis will shift from aggressive wicket-taking to containment due to evening dew and flat wickets across the country.
This will be the first men’s international held at Kotambi’s brand-new Baroda Cricket Association Stadium. A women’s ODI series between India and the West Indies was previously held at the venue. Since this series offers a perfect chance to test young and second-line players, New Zealand’s defeat to India in the Champions Trophy final last year is not particularly significant.
The Black Caps will adhere to the team philosophy that proved effective during their most recent trip to India in 2024–2025, when they defeated India 3-0 in the Test series, regardless of whether they had their preferred players available.
Several Kiwi players expressed their desire to “fire the first shot” against India during that tour. The team’s motto for this trip is “you are where your feet are,” which is intended to keep the players focused on the task at hand rather than the obstacles in their immediate surroundings, especially since New Zealand is playing India in their own backyard and is missing several of their front-line players.
Tom Latham is back at home for the birth of his first child, and Mitchell Santner will miss the ODIs because of a groin problem. Former captain Kane Williamson is in South Africa to complete his T20 obligations in the SA20.
While fast bowler Jacob Duffy and Rachin Ravindra have been rested, Matt Henry, who is recovering from a calf injury, is concentrated on making a comeback in the T20I series with the World Cup in mind.
In the absence of Santner, who will return for the Twenty20 Internationals, Michael Bracewell will captain the team. The performance of 23-year-old leg-spinner Adithya Ashok and lanky all-rounder Kyle Jamieson will also be closely watched.
The Kiwis have added Jayden Lennox as a like-for-like substitute for Santner.
New Zealand still has a strong batting lineup that includes Devon Conway, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Will Young, and even Glenn Phillips, despite having many new and inexperienced players.
Teams (from):
India: Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana
New Zealand: Michael Bracewell (c), Devon Conway (wk), Mitchell Hay (wk), Nick Kelly, Henry Nicholls, Will Young, Josh Clarkson, Zak Foulkes, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Adithya Ashok, Kristian Clarke, Kyle Jamieson, Jayden Lennox, Michael Rae
