India will be taking on New Zealand in a three-match ODI series that will commence from January 11. The BCCI have not yet announced the Men in Blue's squad for the assignment, but the decision is expected to be made soon. According to a report by The Times of India, India's squad for the series will be announced by selection committee chief Ajit Agarkar on January 3.
“The national selection committee, headed by (former India pacer) Ajit Agarkar, will hold an online meeting on Jan 3 to pick the squad," a BCCI source was quoted as saying to TOI.
India's last ODI assignment had been against South Africa at home. They had won the three-match series by 2-1 under the leadership of KL Rahul. Shubman Gill was on the sidelines due to neck injury that he had sustained during the Test series and thus, Rahul was made the stand-in skipper.
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Gill eventually recovered from the injury and made his return in the T20I series against South Africa where he played three out of the five games. He is now expected to return to the ODI set-up as well and captain Team India in the upcoming series against New Zealand.
Pandya and Bumrah expected to be rested
Meanwhile, according to an earlier report by Cricbuzz, both Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya will be rested for the ODI series against New Zealand. The two are expected to play vital roles in the Men in Blue's 2026 T20 World Cup campaign that and it can be a big blow for the team if they suffer any injury before the tournament.
Iyer set for return?
Another player who can miss out on the New Zealand ODI series is Shreyas Iyer. The batter hasn't been in action ever since sustaining an abdominal injury during India's ODI assignment against Australia in October. Though he was on track to make a return in the New Zealand ODI series, an earlier report by The Times of India claimed that he went through a significant weight loss during rehabilitation and will be spending another week at BCCI's Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru.