The big announcement has been made, and the Indian selection committee led by Ajit Agarkar has announced the 15-member squad for the upcoming ODI series against New Zealand. The announcement was made on Saturday, and it has come up with several surprises and shocks.
The ODI series is scheduled to begin on Sunday, January 11, at BCA Stadium in Vadodara. The second and third ODIs will be played on January 14 and 18, respectively. Fans are excited because it will see Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in action for India. Shubman Gill, who was dropped from the T20 World Cup 2026 squad, is back leading the Indian side in the ODIs.
Shreyas Iyer is also back after the injury and will assist Gill as vice-captain. Mohammed Siraj is also back in ODIs after missing several ODI assignments. The squad announcement has certainly raised some questions, and here we will talk about three takeaways from India's ODI squad for the New Zealand series.
Key takeaways from the Indian squad for the ODI series against New Zealand
1. No Mohammed Shami in India's plan
There were some rumors that India might bring back Mohammed Shami. His last ODI match for India was in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 against New Zealand. Since then, he has been away from India's plan. With Jasprit Bumrah getting rested, India still didn't include Shami in the squad.
Earlier, Agarkar said that they want Shami to be completely fit. The pacer is playing in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 and bowling at his full tilt. But despite that, he has not been picked, which indicates that we might have seen the last of Shami already.
2. Ruturaj Gaikwad ignored once again
One big name that is missing from the squad is Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was part of the last ODI series against South Africa. Gaikwad was picked to bat at no. 4 as Shreyas Iyer was injured. But Iyer is back, which might be the reason that India have excluded Gaikwad. The Mumbai batter is playing for Maharashtra in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26. He has scored 257 runs in 5 innings at an average of 64.25 and a strike rate of 120.45.
3. Rest for Hardik and Jasprit
The three-match ODI series will be followed by a five-match T20I series against New Zealand between January 21 and 31. This series is important for the upcoming T20 World Cup 2026, as India are the defending champion. Hence, to manage the workload of India's key players like Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah, India have given them rest for the ODI series. India have gone with Nitish Kumar Reddy as the pace-bowling all-rounder and included Siraj to replace Bumrah in the squad.
Indian Squad for IND vs NZ ODIs: Shubman Gill (c), Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, KL Rahul (wk), Shreyas Iyer (vc), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant (wk), Md. Siraj, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Yashasvi Jaiswal