The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is expected to announce India’s ODI squad for the upcoming 3-match series against New Zealand in the first week of January. The white-ball assignment will commence on January 11 at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara.
Shubman Gill & Shreyas Iyer to return
India’s ODI captain and vice-captain, Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, will both return. The duo had missed the South Africa ODI series. Gill had injured his toe but has recovered. He’s started batting and will play two matches for Punjab in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) 2025-26. As for Shreyas, he’s currently rehabilitating at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE). At the moment, it’s uncertain whether he’ll feature in the India vs New Zealand ODI series, but he looks to be on track for a comeback.
Tilak Varma & Dhruv Jurel miss out
Shreyas and Gill’s return means two players will have to go out. Dhruv Jurel, who was the third wicketkeeper after KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant, will have to miss out. The same goes for Tilak Varma, who was the backup for Ruturaj Gaikwad against South Africa.
No place for Ishan Kishan or Devdutt Padikkal
Ishan Kishan and Devdutt Padikkal have been tearing it apart in the VHT. But there isn’t any space for them at the moment. Kishan returned to India’s T20I team, but his ODI comeback will have to wait. The wicketkeeper scored the second-fastest List A hundred by an Indian recently. Padikkal averages 83.64 in List A and has smashed back-to-back centuries, but can’t get his maiden ODI call-up.
Hardik Pandya & Jasprit Bumrah to be rested
Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah will be rested. BCCI is prioritising the injury-prone players for the 2026 T20 World Cup. They haven’t featured in the last 2 ODI series for India, and it’ll continue.
Last chance for Ravindra Jadeja?
Axar Patel won’t return to the ODI side either. He didn’t play against South Africa. The BCCI didn’t inform whether he was rested or dropped. He might be left out again, not due to his inadequate performance, but because Ravindra Jadeja might be getting his last chance. His returns in the format haven’t been great; he was left out in Australia and didn’t impress with the ball against the Proteas.
Probable India ODI squad for New Zealand
Shubman Gill (c), Shreyas Iyer (vc), Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (wk), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana
Exclusions from South Africa ODI series: Dhruv Jurel (wk), Tilak Varma
