IND vs. NZ ODI Series 2026: Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Mohammed Siraj return to Team India; Hardik Pandya, Bumrah rested
IND vs. NZ ODI Series 2026: The Indian cricket team for the ODI series against New Zealand has been announced. The team sees the return of captain Shubman Gill, vice-captain Shreyas Iyer, and fast bowler Mohammed Siraj. Iyer will only be able to play after receiving fitness clearance from the BCCI medical team.
Rishabh Pant retains his place
Wicket-keeper-batsman Rishabh Pant has retained his place, while Ishan Kishan has not been included. Pacers Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Hardik Pandya have been rested as part of workload management. The first match of the ODI series will be played in Baroda on January 11.
Shami not included
Fast bowler Mohammed Siraj has returned to the team. He will be joined by Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, and Harshit Rana as the other three frontline pacers. Nitish Kumar Reddy will be the pace-bowling all-rounder in place of Hardik Pandya. Pandya, along with Bumrah, has been rested. Mohammed Shami has also not been included in the squad.
Yashasvi Jaiswal has been named as the backup opener. Jaiswal had opened with Rohit Sharma in the absence of Shubman Gill against South Africa. He scored an unbeaten 116 runs in the third ODI.
India will face the Kiwis in 3 ODIs, starting on January 11 with the first match in Vadodara, followed by the second in Rajkot and the third and final match in Indore.
India squad
Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Shreyas Iyer (VC), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal.