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India
New Zealand
India and New Zealand will begin their 2026 international calendar with the first ODI at Kotambi Stadium, Vadodara. This series will be part of New Zealandβs January tour of India, which will include 3 ODIs and 5 T20Is ahead of the T20 World Cup. Both teams will treat this match as a preparatory series. India will look to use home conditions well.
New Zealand will arrive with strong recent ODI numbers. They will enter this match on the back of 5 consecutive ODI wins. India has 3 wins and 2 losses from their last 5 ODIs. Shubman Gill will lead India with senior players returning to the squad, while Michael Bracewell will captain New Zealand in the ODI series.
Head-to-head history favours India. India has won all of the last 5 ODI meetings against New Zealand.
India has multiple in-form batters like Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shubman Gill, while New Zealand will be without Kane Williamson and Tom Latham, reducing their batting depth.
The betting tip is...
Top Batterβs Team - India
81 %
19 %
IndiaNew ZealandShubman Gill will return as Indiaβs ODI captain. Shreyas Iyer, subject to fitness clearance, will be the vice-captain and will make his comeback after not playing any competitive cricket since October 2025. Mohammed Siraj will also return to the 15-man squad, strengthening the pace unit. Hardik Pandya will be rested, eyeing the T20 World Cup starting in February.
Gill, Iyer and Siraj will come into the squad in place of Tilak Varma, Dhruv Jurel and Ruturaj Gaikwad. These will be the only changes from the squad that beat South Africa, where Gaikwad scored 105 in Raipur. Apart from Gill and Iyer, India will rely on Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal as specialist batters.
Rahul and Pant will be the wicketkeeper-batters. Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja and Nitish Kumar Reddy will be the all-rounders. Kuldeep Yadav will lead the spin attack, while Siraj, Harshit Rana and Prasidh Krishna will spearhead the seam bowling alongside Arshdeep Singh.
Rohit, Kohli and Gill are the key batters.
Predicted Lineup: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav
Michael Bracewell will lead the 15-member ODI squad in the absence of Mitchell Santner, whose groin injury will continue to be managed. Santner will return for the T20Is, while Matt Henry will miss the ODIs as he continues rehabilitation from a calf tear.
Kane Williamson will remain unavailable for the ODIs, and Tom Latham will skip the series due to the birth of his third child. Kyle Jamieson and Zak Foulkes will feature in both white-ball squads.
Jayden Lennox earned his maiden call-up to New Zealandβs white-ball setup as the left-arm finger spinner finds a place in the ODI squad. Uncapped bowling allrounder Kristian Clarke will join him, leg-spinning allrounder Adithya Ashok, seam-bowling allrounder Josh Clarkson and fast bowler Michael Rae, who has already made his Test debut againstthe West Indies.
Young, Conway and Mitchell are the key batters.
Predicted Lineup: Will Young, Devon Conway (wk), Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell (c), Mitch Hay, Josh Clarkson, Kyle Jamieson, Jayden Lennox and Zak Foulkes.
India will enter this match with a clear edge in batting depth. Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer will form a strong top and middle order. Rohit and Kohli carry strong ODI form from the Australia and South Africa series late last year, where both scored centuries.
They will also come in with confidence after scoring hundreds on their Vijay Hazare return. Along with them, Rishabh Pant and Ravindra Jadeja will provide batting depth to the middle order.
New Zealand will miss Kane Williamson and Tom Latham in the series, which will weaken their batting core. On a good Vadodara surface, Indiaβs batting unit will be expected to produce the most impactful individual performance.
