The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is expected to announce India’s ODI squad for the New Zealand series on January 3. There’s a discussion over the possibility of Shreyas Iyer, Devdutt Padikkal, Mohammed Shami, Rishabh Pant, and other players’ places in the team.
However, that shouldn’t be the only point of debate. We shouldn’t just be talking about who needs to be included, but also those who should be excluded. If you’re wondering what the point is, well, it’s really simple. Should BCCI pick 2026 T20 World Cup-bound players for the India vs New Zealand series?
Players need physical & mental rest
Cricketers part of India’s T20I setup are in for a tough 5 months. From January 18, the start of the Kiwi series, to May 31, the end of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026, these players will play continuous cricket. There will be a slight mini break of 3 weeks between the T20 World Cup ending on March 8 and IPL 2026 commencing on March 26.
Considering that featuring in the Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) 2025-26 has been made mandatory, barring Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya, all cricketers will play in the List A tournament. Even Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli played two matches. They won’t have much rest before the India vs New Zealand series begins, with ODIs on January 11 and T20Is on January 21.
BCCI has to take this into account. You can’t let players enter the T20 World Cup fatigued. With a title defence on the line, the board has to take care of the player’s physical and mental health. Not to forget that IPL isn’t a small product either. In fact, it’s the biggest tournament for the BCCI. If these players aren’t 100% during the T20 World Cup, they won’t be fresh for IPL either.
That’s why BCCI has to consider resting players like Tilak Varma, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, and Washington Sundar, all of whom were part of India’s ODI squad for the last series against South Africa. Similarly, Axar Patel, Bumrah and Pandya shouldn’t be picked either.
India’s squad for T20 World Cup 2026
Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson (wk), Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan (wk), Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel (vc), Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh
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Should BCCI rest T20 World Cup-bound players from India's ODI squad for NZ series?
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