Spearhead Mohammed Siraj, riding on his performances in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, makes his way back to the Indian ODI team for the IDFC First Bank three-match series against New Zealand, which starts at home on January 11.
The ODI series starts on January 11 in Vadodara before the teams move to Rajkot for the second ODI on January 14. The series ends with the third ODI on January 18 in Indore.
Siraj had turned out for Hyderabad in the Vijay Hazare Trophy game against Chandigarh in Rajkot on Saturday and had figures of 8-3-19-1. He also struck a 11-ball 16 with three fours to prop up the Hyderabad total.
Siraj had last played in the ODIs during the tour to Australia. He is, however, a regular member of the Test squad. He had claimed seven wickets in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy after playing four matches.
Shubman Gill also makes his return as captain of the side. Gill had missed the South Africa ODI series because of a neck spasm suffered during the Kolkata Test.
Shreyas Iyer has been named the vice-captain but with a caveat. His availability is subject to fitness clearance. Iyer will be making his return from a spleen injury he picked up during the tour of Australia. He has not played any competitive cricket since October 2025.
Star all-rounder Hardik Pandya, however, is being rested especially in view of the T20 World Cup to be hosted by India and Sri Lanka next month. Hardik Pandya has not been cleared by the BCCI COE to bowl 10 overs in a match and considering the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to follow, his workload is being managed, said BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia in a press release.
Siraj, Gill and Iyer come into the squad in place of Tilak Varma, Dhruv Jurel and Ruturaj Gaikwad. These are the only changes to the squad that India fielded against South Africa, which they won 2-1. Tilak and Jurel did not get a game during that series although Gaikwad scored 105 in Raipur batting at No.4.
The other batters in the squad are Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Yashasvi Jaiswal. KL Rahul, who was stand-in captain during the South Africa ODIs, and Rishabh Pant are the two wicketkeeper-batters. Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja and Nitish Kumar Reddy are the allrounders while Kuldeep Yadav is the spinner. Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh and Siraj will man the pace department.
Both Gill and Iyer are expected to play a Vijay Hazare Trophy match each on January 6 before India’s squad gets together. Gill had missed Punjab’s game on Saturday due to food poisoning, but he is expected to turn out against Goa on Tuesday. Iyer, on the other hand, is expected to turn out for Mumbai in their game against Himachal Pradesh on January 6 in Jaipur.
India ODI squad for New Zealand series: Shubman Gill (capt), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Shreyas Iyer (vice-capt, subject to clearance), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh and Yashasvi Jaiswal.
