Team India captain Shubman Gill won the toss and chose to bowl against New Zealand in the first ODI. Star wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant was ruled out of the series with a side strain. KL Rahul will take over wicketkeeping duties for the match.
Team India captain Shubman Gill won the toss and elected to bowl first against the Michael Bracewell-led New Zealand in the first match of the three-match ODI series, starting on Sunday at the BCA Stadium in Kotambi, Vadodara.
Rishabh Pant ruled out
The Men in Blue copped a major blow on the eve of the ODI series opener as the star wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant has been ruled out of the three-match series owing to a side strain (oblique muscle tear).
According to a release from the Board of Control for Cricket in India, Pant sustained the injury while batting during a net session at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara on Saturday. Dhruv Jurel replaced Pant in the Indian squad for the New Zealand series. However, he didn't make it into the India 11 for the first ODI as KL Rahul has been assigned with the wicketkeeping duties.
Playing XIs
India
India's playing 11 vs New Zealand: Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill(c), Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna
New Zealand
New Zealand's playing 11 vs India: Devon Conway, Henry Nicholls, Will Young, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Hay(w), Michael Bracewell(c), Zakary Foulkes, Kristian Clarke, Kyle Jamieson, Adithya Ashok
Kohli, Rohit in focus
Notably, the India vs New Zealand ODI series will witness the batting stalwarts Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in action, with both of them now exclusively ODI players.
Virat had secured the 'Player of the Series' award against South Africa in December for scoring 302 runs in three matches at an average of 151.00, with two back-to-back centuries and a fifty. Following that, Virat played two Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT) for Delhi in late December, marking his return to the tournament after 15 years, scoring 131 runs against Andhra Pradesh and 77 against Gujarat, looking fluent as ever and turning back the clock to his prime years with his strokeplay.
Rohit, the number 1-ranked ODI batter, on the other hand, amassed 146 runs across the Proteas series to hold on to his spot at the top of the rankings. Rohit, who also made his VHT comeback, scored 155 against Sikkim before registering a golden duck against Uttarakhand.
Both Virat and Rohit will look to continue their fine 50-over form in the NZ series as well to keep themselves in strong contention for the upcoming 2027 ODI World Cup next year. (ANI)
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