Gill & Iyer IN, Jaiswal & Gaikwad OUT: India's Likely XI For 1st ODI Against New Zealand

India begin their 2026 by hosting New Zealand for a three-match ODI series, which will give way to T20Is followed by the T20I World Cup. It’s going to be a busy year for the Men In Blue and an important

one from ODI’s perspective, given the World Cup next year. The first ODI of the series will be played at Vadodara’s BCA Stadium on Sunday.

The contest will see the return of India ODI captain Shubman Gill, who has had wretched luck with fitness recently. First, he ended up hurting his neck during the first Test against South Africa last November and then, when he made his competitive return against the same opponents in T20Is, a toe injury pushed him back to the sidelines.

A fit-again Gill will be aiming for a productive outing, given he’s been struggling for form for some time now.

Eyes, though, will be firmly on the old warhorses – Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma. The two have been in superb form and will hope to continue in the same vein against the Kiwis as well.

Gill’s return, though, means Yashasvi Jaiswal, who opened for India during the South Africa ODIs, will have to make way despite scoring a scintillating hundred in his last international innings.

Also missing in action is Ruturaj Gaikwad, who scored a century in his last innings for India, as he wasn’t picked in the squad. However, the 28-year-old had been in fine form in the Vijay Hazare Trophy as he scored 413 runs from 7 innings at an average of 82.60.

He misses out as Shreyas Iyer has attained fitness in time after suffering a spleen injury during the Australia tour last year. He’s also reportedly received the fitness clearance from the BCCI Centre of Excellence, meaning he may end up being part of the playing XI on Sunday.

Mohammed Siraj could also make his way back into the playing XI after being snubbed for the South Africa ODIs. He was part of the preceding ODI series in Australia, though.

India’s Probable XI For 1st ODI Against New Zealand: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj.