Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma take centre stage as India eye winning start to New Zealand ODIs
While the focus is on the T20 World Cup in less than a month, Kohli and Rohit will be in the spotlight in three ODIs over the next seven days.
There was no shortage of playing time for the two superstars, who played several matches each in the league round of the Vijay Hazare Trophy and undertook big runs that underlined that they are not leaving anytime soon.
However, it remains to be seen how India skipper Shubman Gill will react after being kicked out of the T20 World Cup; Apart from the injuries that kept him out of the majority of the series against South Africa late last year, his form is also worrying.
However, Gill’s return looks set to dislodge Yashasvi Jaiswal from the top order, where he scored his maiden ODI ton in the last match against South Africa.
Shreyas Iyer’s return will put an end to the largely unsuccessful run in the batting order and the 31-year-old will regain his place at No. 4.
KL Rahul’s continued role as lower-order batsman and wicketkeeper will keep Rishabh Pant out of the playing XI, with the latter remaining as the second option in the 50-over format. While Iyer, Pant and Mohammed Siraj were not part of the preparations for the ODI series in Kotambi until Saturday, Ravindra Jadeja signaled his readiness by training at full strength on Friday.
To keep them ready for T20 duties, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya are not part of the ODI series, leaving the bowling duties to Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna.
Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar and Jadeja will share the spin-bowling responsibilities in a format where the evening dew and the flat nature of wickets across the country have ensured that the emphasis shifts to containment rather than aggressive wicket-taking.
The new Baroda Cricket Association Stadium in Kotambi will host a men’s international competition for the first time. The venue had previously hosted a women’s ODI series between India and West Indies.
For New Zealand, their defeat against India in last year’s Champions Trophy final is of little consequence as this series provides an ideal opportunity to test new and second-tier players.
Whether or not they have their preferred players, the Black Caps will stick to the team mantra that worked wonders when they defeated India 3-0 in the Test series during their last visit to India in 2024-25.
During this tour, several Kiwi players spoke of wanting to “take the first shot” against India and the team mantra on this trip was “you are where your feet are”; This means the players have to focus their minds on the task and not on the challenges around them, given that New Zealand are without several front-line players and are facing India in their backyard.
Mitchell Santner misses the ODIs due to a groin injury and Tom Latham returns home for the birth of his first child. Former skipper Kane Williamson is in South Africa fulfilling his T20 commitments in SA20.
While Rachin Ravindra and fast bowler Jacob Duffy are rested, Matt Henry, who is back from injury, is focused on returning to the T20I series, keeping the World Cup in mind.
Michael Bracewell will lead the team in Santner’s absence and will return for the T20Is. Attention will also focus on how tall, all-rounder Kyle Jamieson and 23-year-old leg-spinner Adithya Ashok perform.
Jayden Lennox was brought into the Kiwis squad as a similar player to replace Santner.
Despite having many new and inexperienced faces in the squad, New Zealand have a formidable batting force including Devon Conway, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Will Young and even Glenn Phillips.
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.
The match starts at 13.30 IST.
