India will continue to play a depleted unit in their white-ball setup, as their two irreplaceable players, Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya, won’t be part of the T20I and ODI series in New Zealand.
The all-format India tour of New Zealand 2026 will get underway later this month. The tour will begin with a five-match T20I series from October 22, and it will be followed by a five-match ODI series that will run from November 4 to 15. The last part of the tour comprises a two-match Test series, to be played from November 19.
Given that there is a gap of only three days between the 5th ODI and the commencement of the India vs New Zealand Test series, the BCCI announced two squads: one for the first three ODIs and another for the next two ODIs.
Shubman Gill, the captain, along with Prasidh Krishna, KL Rahul, and Anshul Kamboj, are not in the squad for the last two ODIs as they will set off their preparations for the Test series; Shreyas Iyer will captain India in Gill’s absence.
While the IND vs NZ ODI series will see two of India’s biggest superstar cricketers, Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, in action, two key players of the playing XI, Bumrah and Hardik, won’t be part of the ODIs.
IND vs NZ: Why Are Jasprit Bumrah, Hardik Pandya Not Picked In India ODI Squad For New Zealand Series?
Bumrah has been rested from the ODI series against New Zealand and will play in the two-match Test series. Hardik is not completely fit and will miss the T20I and ODI series on the New Zealand tour.
As per Cricinfo, “Bumrah’s workload would be managed to ensure he would be fit to play the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home early next year and the 2027 ODI World Cup.”
Pandya has been out of action since the conclusion of the IPL 2026 at the end of May. He’s had an unfortunate run of injuries. He suffered back spasms in the IPL 2026 and then picked up a leg strain while training at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) facility in Bengaluru.
Hardik was slated to make his comeback this month for India A in the white-ball matches against Australia A. However, he reportedly sustained a shin injury and will need more time to recover.
While Hardik has been down with injuries, the absence of Bumrah from the first three ODIs has raised questions as India amp up their preparations for the 2027 World Cup, which is only a year away. Bumrah has played only two ODI matches – both on the tour of England in July where he got injured – since 2024, including missing the ICC Champions Trophy 2025.
Bumrah is currently at his home in Ahmedabad doing his routine training and will reportedly fly to Bengaluru for fitness drills before leaving for New Zealand.
Hardik might be short of cricket: Gautam Gambhir
Earlier, India head coach Gautam Gambhir asserted the importance of both Hardik and Bumrah for the 2027 World Cup.
Gambhir told JioHotstar, “So the focus for us – especially for Hardik, who needs game time as well; he hasn’t played a lot of cricket since the IPL – if we talk about 50-over cricket, if we want to play him, he might be short of cricket. If he plays a little bit of T20 cricket and then gets to one-day cricket, because game time going into the World Cup is going to be extremely, extremely important.
“You can’t go to the World Cup half-cooked. So you must have enough game time, because there are no ifs and buts when it comes to a World Cup.”
India vs New Zealand: India ODI Squads
IND vs NZ: India squad for the first three ODIs:
Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill (C), Gurnoor Brar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Mohammed Siraj, Anshul Kamboj, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Kishan (wk), KL Rahul (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Prasidh Krishna*, Kuldeep Yadav
IND vs NZ: India squad for the last two ODIs:
Virat Kohli, Ishan Kishan (wk), Shreyas Iyer (C), Tilak Varma, Rohit Sharma, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Yash Thakur, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Arshdeep Singh, Naman Dhir, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Auqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar
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