11 January,2026 09:21 AM IST | Vadodara | PTI
Virat Kohli at the Kotambi Stadium nets in Vadodara on Friday; (right) Rohit Sharma during India’s practice session at Kotambi Stadium in Vadodara on Saturday. Pics/PTI
Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma's prime form is expected to drive India's progress in ODIs as the full-strength hosts take on a new-look New Zealand in the first match of the three-match series here on Sunday.
Even as focus remains on the T20 World Cup, which is less than a month away, Kohli and Rohit will hog the limelight in the three ODIs over the next seven days.
There has been no dearth of game-time for the two superstars who played a couple of matches each in the Vijay Hazare Trophy's league round, piling up big runs to underline that they are not going away anytime soon.
But it remains to be seen how India captain Shubman Gill responds after being axed from the T20 World Cup side, with his form being a concern apart from the injuries that kept him out of the majority of the series against South Africa late last year. Gill's return, however, is likely to take Yashasvi Jaiswal out of the top order where he scored his maiden ODI ton in the last match vs South Africa.
The return of Shreyas Iyer should end a largely unsuccessful run of experiments in the batting order, with the 31-year-old set to claim his No. 4 spot back. KL Rahul's continued role as a lower-order batter and wicketkeeper is set to keep Rishabh Pant out of the XI, with the latter remaining second choice in the 50-overs format.
While Iyer, Pant and Mohammed Siraj were not part of the preparations for the ODI series here in Kotambi until Saturday, Ravindra Jadeja trained at full tilt on Friday, signalling his availability.
For New Zealand, their loss to India in last year's Champions Trophy final carries little significance, as this series presents an ideal opportunity to test new and second-line players.
Whether they have their preferred players available or not, the Black Caps will stick to the team mantra, which worked wonders in their last visit to India in 2024-25 when they hammered India 3-0 in the Test series.
Six
Consecutive 50-plus scores for Virat Kohli in List A matches. He has scored 584 runs in his last six innings, including three centuries and three half-centuries @ 146.00
2022
The year New Zealand last won an ODI against India. Since then India have emerged victorious in seven consecutive matches while two games were washed out
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