IND vs NZ: 5 Key Takeaways from India’s First-Ever Home ODI Series Defeat to New Zealand

India lost 2-1 to New Zealand in a historic ODI series, marking their first-ever home series defeat to the Black Caps. The result ended India’s long-standing home dominance in ODIs and increased scrutiny on team performance and management.

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India Suffer a Rare ODI Series Defeat to NZ at Home

Team India suffered a three-match ODI series defeat to New Zealand with a 41-run loss in the series decider at the Holkar Cricket Stadium in Indore on Sunday, January 18. The series was levelled at 1-1 after the Kiwis won the second ODI before sealing a historic 2-1 series victory in Indore.

New Zealand scripted history as they clinched the ODI series for the first time on Indian soil, while Team India slipped to their maiden home ODI series loss against the Black Caps. The Kiwis ended a 37-year drought of winning a bilateral ODI series in India, achieving the milestone for the first time in history. With a rare ODI series defeat to New Zealand, the Men in Blue’s dominance at home has been dented.

On that note, let’s take a look at 5 key takeaways from Team India’s first-ever ODI series defeat to New Zealand on home soil.

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1. Virat Kohli in Top Form

Former Team India captain and star batter Virat Kohli continued his fine run of form since his international comeback in October 2025 and emerged as the standout batter in the ODI series against New Zealand. In the opening match, the 37-year-old played a match-winning 93-run knock to guide the team to a four-wicket win. However, in the second ODI, Kohli failed to deliver as he scored just 23 runs, ending his streak of five consecutive 50+ scores, and Team India lost the match by seven wickets.

In the series decider, Kohli played a brilliant knock of 124 off 108 balls, including 10 fours and 3 sixes, giving India a glimmer of hope of winning the third ODI as well as the series, but his effort went in vain as the Men in Blue fell 42 runs short of the target. In three matches, Virat Kohli amassed 240 runs, including a century and a fifty, at an average of 80.00 and a strike rate of 105.26.

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2. Grooming of Harshit Rana as an All-Rounder

The current Team India management under the head coach Gautam Gambhir is apparently grooming Harshit Rana as an all-rounder by batting him in the middle order. As Gambhir is looking to add depth to India’s batting, Rana has been given more responsibility to contribute with both bat and ball. In the first ODI, the Delhi cricketer scored 29 runs and picked two wickets in India’s four-wicket win in Vadodara.

In the series decider, Harshit Rana once showed his growing all-round value, scoring a crucial 52 runs and picking three wickets, underlining the team management’s intent to develop him as a genuine batting all-rounder in the ODI setup. In the ODI series against New Zealand, Rana scored 83 runs at an average of 27.67 and picked six wickets at an average of 33.50 in three matches.

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3. Bowling Struggles in the Middle Overs

One of the key takeaways from India’s ODI series defeat to New Zealand was the bowling struggles in the middle overs, especially after getting early breakthroughs in the powerplay. In the Rajkot and Indore ODI matches, the Indian bowlers managed to get early breakthroughs in the powerplay. Still, they failed to contain the flow of runs in the middle overs, allowing New Zealand batters to rebuild the innings and post a big total and chase down a challenging target, which the visitors did in the second ODI.

Mohammed Siraj failed to make an impact with the ball. At the same time, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja lacked spin-bowling effectiveness in the middle overs, where they struggled to build pressure on the opposition batters, exposing India’s lack of control during the crucial phase of the innings.

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4. Ravindra Jadeja’s ODI Career Under Scrutiny

The spin bowling all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja’s lack of impact with the bat and ball has become a talking point in the three-match ODI series against New Zealand. In three matches, Jadeja scored 43 runs at an average of 14.33 and failed to take a single wicket while conceding 141 runs at an economy rate of 6.13 runs per over. Jadeja’s underwhelming performance with the bat and ball has put his ODI career under scrutiny.

Since 2025, the spin bowling all-rounder could pick just 12 wickets at an average of 45.16 and scored 149 runs at an average of 29.8 in 13 matches. Ravindra Jadeja’s declining returns in the shorter format of the game at the international level raise questions about his future in the ODI setup, with young all-rounders waiting in the wings for an opportunity to don the Indian jersey.

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5. Gambhir Era Under Spotlight

With Team India’s first-ever ODI series defeat to New Zealand on home soil, Gautam Gambhir’s tenure as the head coach has come under sharp focus as questions grow around consistency, selection calls, and India’s fading home dominance. Since Gambhir took over as head coach in July 2024, the Men in Blue lost three ODI series against Sri Lanka, Australia, and now New Zealand.

Apart from ODI series defeats under coach Gambhir, India suffered a Test whitewash at the hands of New Zealand and South Africa at home in 2024, and surrendered the Border-Gavaskar Trophy to Australia after 10 long years, and also failed to qualify for the WTC Final in 2025. This marks one of the most challenging phases for Team India in recent years under a single coaching regime.