Former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar has played down New Zealand’s ODI series win over India, stating that bilateral series results in 50-over cricket do not carry importance in the larger picture. According to him, the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup remains the only truly relevant competition in the format.
Manjrekar on India's defeat
Notably, India had taken a 1-0 lead in the series before New Zealand bounced back to win the remaining two matches, securing their first-ever ODI series victory against India on their home soil.
“India losing to New Zealand in the ODI series recently, no big deal,” said Manjrekar on his Instagram handle. “Honestly, in 50-over cricket today, what really matters is the World Cup, not even the Champions Trophy, because if you try and remember the last three Champions Trophy winners, you’ll struggle to remember those. But World Cup, you’ll remember each winner from the time the tournament started.”
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India's upcoming assignment
Team India wll now face New Zealand for the five-match T20I series, which is scheduled to start from January 21. This will be India's last international assignment before the T20 World Cup 2026, hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
India's T20 World Cup 2026 schedule
The T20 World Cup 2026 is scheduled to start from February 7, and defending champions India will start their campaign against the United States on the same day at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. After that, the Suryakumar Yadav-led side will take on Namibia in their second tie. India will face Pakistan in their third Group Stage clash, which will be the high-voltage clash of the tournament. The Men in Blue will face the Netherlands in their last Group Stage match on February 18.
India's T20 World Cup 2026 squad
Suryakumar Yadav (c), Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube, Ishan Kishan, Hardik Pandya, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Rinku Singh.