Indian captain Shubman Gill wins the toss and chooses to bowl first in the series opener against New Zealand in Auckland, marking the return of veteran stars Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to the national ODI squad for the five-match series.
India vs New Zealand: Series Opener in Auckland
Indian skipper Shubman Gill won the toss and opted to chase against New Zealand in the first of the five ODIs in Auckland on Wednesday. With the spotlight firmly on the road to the 2027 ODI World Cup, India begin their five-match series against New Zealand at Eden Park on Wednesday, with the return of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to the 50-over format.
India will also be looking to turn around their modest ODI record in New Zealand, where their last victory came in February 2019. Since then, they have featured in two ODI series in the country, suffering 3-0 and 1-0 defeats, with two matches washed out during the latter tour. India have struggled for consistency in the 50-over format since winning the Champions Trophy in early 2025. In the six ODI series they have played since, the Men in Blue have won three and lost three, with defeats against Australia, New Zealand and England. The last time these two sides met in an ODI series, New Zealand came out on top 2-1.
Toss and Team Reactions
“We are going to bowl first. (It is a) bit overcast, so any reductions, it’s good to have a target on the board. Everyone is excited and prepared for the series. Conditions we get here are going to be a lot similar to the ones we are going to get in SA. Anshul, Aaqib, Gurnoor and Arshdeep are the pacers,” Gill said during the toss.
“Conway is doing well. He is going to rest up and obviously not going to play today. So Seifert gets a chance, and like India, we also have four pacers,” New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner said.
Playing XIs
Teams: New Zealand (Playing XI): Tim Seifert, Will Young, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham(w), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner(c), Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, Jacob Duffy, Blair Tickner. India (Playing XI): Shubman Gill(c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul(w), Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh.
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