Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya was in red-hot form for Team India in the recently concluded five-match T20I series against South Africa. The 32-year-old cricketer from Baroda, who made his international debut for the Indian team in January 2016 against Australia, played four matches for the Suryakumar Yadav-led side and, with the help of two half-centuries, amassed a total of 142 runs in three innings. He won a couple of Player of the Match awards, and his batting strike rate in the series was 186.84. After starring in the home series, where he also joined the 100 wickets and 100 sixes club for India in T20Is, Hardik is all set to be rested for the upcoming three-match ODI series against New Zealand.
World No. 1 ODI team India will face the Black
Caps in a three-match ODI series from January 11. The series opener is scheduled to take place in Vadodara on January 11, and the next two ODIs will be played on January 14 and 18 in Rajkot and Indore, respectively.
The BCCI’s senior men’s selection committee, which is headed by former fast bowler Ajit Agarkar, is yet to announce India’s squad for the three 50-over matches in January 2026. But according to a report in Cricbuzz on Sunday (December 28), India will rest Hardik along with star fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah.
Hardik hasn’t played an ODI match for India since featuring in the final of the ICC Champions Trophy 2025 on March 9 in Dubai against New Zealand, whereas Bumrah’s last ODI appearance for India was during the ODI World Cup 2023 final against Australia at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Both Hardik and Bumrah are fully fit, but they will be rested, keeping the five-match T20I series against New Zealand and the T20 World Cup 2026 in mind. Both Hardik and Bumrah are part of the T20I team for both the major assignments.
As per the available information, the BCCI selectors will announce India’s ODI squad on January 4 or 5.
It has also been reported that Pandya will play a couple of matches for his domestic side, Baroda, in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26. The BCCI has made it mandatory for all the India players to participate in domestic cricket, and that’s why Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli also played the first two matches of the ongoing season for Mumbai and Delhi, respectively.
As per Cricbuzz, Pandya may play in two of the last three league matches of the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Baroda, which is led by his elder brother Krunal.
Kohli to play vs Railways
Batting superstar Kohli played the first two matches of the Vijay Hazare Trophy for Delhi and registered scores of 131 and 77 against Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, respectively. He will miss the next three Elite Group D matches for the Rishabh Pant-led side in Alur but is all set to feature in the team’s second-last group match against Services.
According to a top Delhi & District Cricket Association (DDCA) official, “Kohli will return for the penultimate league match, to be played on January 6 against Railways at the KSCA ground in Alur. After that, he will join the Indian team for the three ODIs against New Zealand.”
