New Delhi: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), on Saturday, announced a 15-member squad for India’s ODI series against New Zealand. In Shubman Gill’s first home series as skipper, seasoned batter Shreyas Iyer has made a comeback after being out of action for almost three months, pipping Ruturaj Gaikwad in the squad.
Veteran duo of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli continue to keep their places while Rishabh Pant has also been included as the second wicketkeeper option despite a poor run with the bat recently. Pacer Mohammed Siraj has also returned for the 50-over games while Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya have been rested as announced earlier.
Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Nitish Kumar Reddy fill in places in the all-rounders department while Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana are the other fast bowlers apart from Siraj. Kuldeep Yadav will lead the spin bowling department with support from Jadeja and Sundar.
Notable inclusions, exclusions in India’s squad
The much-awaited comeback of seasoned Shreyas Iyer is the most notable inclusion in India’s squad for three-ODI series against New Zealand starting on January 11. Having been named the vice-captain, Iyer will be taken in for matches with subject to fitness clearance as he is currently under rehabilitation but showing considerable signs of improvement.
As report earlier, Iyer, who was doubtful to be named for the series, has received a clearance certificate from the BCCI CoE after passing his first match practice test on Friday and is set to undergo another test on January 5 which will further clear his position. Despite a recent poor run with the bat, Rishabh Pant has also been picked as the second wicketkeeper while Siraj also returns after missing the South Africa ODI series, having last represented India in the Australia ODI series back in October 2025.
As far as the exclusions are concerned, veteran pacer Mohammed Shami continues to be ignored despite a very strong performance in the domestic cricket while Ruturaj Gaikwad, who showed his batting prowess recently, has also not been picked. Devdutt Padikkal, who has proven his mark as a batter in domestic cricket also does not find a place and all-rounder Axar Patel has also not been selected for the ODI games.
