Shubman Gill told in the press conference on Saturday how having Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma in the team helps him. The India vs New Zealand 3-match ODI series is starting from January 11, which will be Gill’s first ODI series at home as captain. During this, he also reacted on not being selected in the T20 World Cup 2026 squad.

Shubman Gill was out of the ODI series against South Africa due to injury, regarding which he admitted that it was a difficult period to stay away from the field after getting the captaincy. He said, “Obviously, it is never easy, especially when you are injured, watching your team play and you feel that you are not able to take part in all those matches, especially when you have just been made the captain.” Describing the importance of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli in the team, Gill said that one is one of the greatest openers in ODI and one is one of the greatest batsman in ODI.

What did Gill say about Rohit-Kohli?

Shubman Gill said, “Rohit Sharma is one of the greatest openers ever in ODIs and Virat bhai is one of the greatest ODI batsmen ever, so definitely when you have these two guys in your team, your life becomes a lot easier. If you are in a difficult situation, they (Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli) have gone through such situations and situations many times in their careers, so you can always go to them to know what they are thinking or what they will do and that information is available to anyone. is also very valuable to the captain.”

On not being selected in T20 World Cup 2026

Shubman Gill said, “As a player, you have the belief that if you play the World Cup, you will win for your team, you will win for your country. But despite this, I respected the selector’s decision, whatever decision they took, I wished the T20 team all the best and I am really hopeful that they will win the T20 World Cup.”

When and where to watch India vs New Zealand 1st ODI live

India vs New Zealand 1st ODI will be played on Sunday, January 11 at BCA Stadium, Vadodara. The match will start at 1:30 pm, toss will take place at 1 pm. The match will be broadcast live on the channels of Star Sports Network. Live streaming will be on JioHotstar app and website.

Virat Kohli will not play in the Delhi vs Railways match to be held on Tuesday in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26. This has been confirmed by Delhi coach Sarandeep Singh. Earlier, Kohli had played for Delhi in the first 2 matches of the tournament. It was expected that before joining Team India for the ODI series against New Zealand, Kohli could play a match against Railways.

Following the guidelines of BCCI, Virat Kohli played the first 2 matches in the ongoing edition of Vijay Hazare Trophy. He played a brilliant inning of 131 runs in the first match against Andhra. He also scored a half-century (77) against Gujarat. Delhi had won both these matches. After this, Kohli did not play in the 3 matches, out of which Delhi won 2 matches and lost 1.

Why won’t Virat Kohli play against Railways?

Delhi coach Sarandeep Singh confirmed that Kohli will not play against Railways. He said, “No, he is not available.” India vs New Zealand 3 match ODI series is starting from 11th January. It was expected that he could play one more match in the Vijay Hazare Trophy on 6 January before joining Team India for the series.

Kohli wants to give maximum time to prepare for the ODI series against New Zealand, so he will not play on Tuesday. Delhi team is in Group D, currently the team is on top in the points table of its group after winning 4 out of 5 matches.

According to BCCI rules, players with central contracts had to play at least 2 matches of Vijay Hazare Trophy. Kohli fulfilled this condition by playing against Andhra and Gujarat. According to the report of Times of India, DDCA President Rohan Jaitley had said last week that Kohli will also play the match against Railways.

Arshdeep Singh is considered a very happy person. Arshdeep, who proves to be lethal for the batsmen on the cricket field, often makes videos on comedy viral reels on social media. He also tries to make the people around him laugh. Currently, one of his videos is going viral on social media, in which he is touching the feet of an elderly female fan. The female fan was standing to get a photo clicked with him.

Arshdeep Singh will join the team for the ODI series in a few days, after which he has to play the T20 series against New Zealand and then the T20 World Cup. In the video now going viral, Arshdeep is seen touching the feet of the woman who was waiting to get photographed with him.

Arshdeep touched the feet of an elderly fan

In the viral video, when Arshdeep sees an elderly woman standing while leaving, the first thing he does is ‘Sat Shri Akal’. After this Arshdeep touches his feet and takes blessings. He asks about the well-being of the elderly woman and then the fan says that she wants to take a photo with you.

Then Arshdeep Singh stops and comfortably gets photographed with him. This video won the hearts of the fans, seeing which users are praising Arshdeep’s values.

: IG/thecidhant#ArshdeepSingh pic.twitter.com/dsPIEQXYgL

— Punjab Kings (@PunjabKingsIPL) January 4, 2026

Amazing performance in Vijay Hazare Trophy

Arshdeep, while playing for his home team Punjab on January 3, bowled brilliantly against Sikkim. In his first match in the ongoing edition of Vijay Hazare Trophy, he took 5 wickets for 34 runs, for which he received the Player of the Match award.

The next few months are going to be very busy for Arshdeep. He is part of the India vs New Zealand ODI series starting from January 11. After this, he will play a 5-match T20 series against New Zealand, after which the T20 World Cup 2026 will start a week later. After the World Cup, all the players will join their IPL teams. Arshdeep Singh plays for Punjab Kings in IPL.

BCCI on Saturday announced the team for the ODI series against New Zealand starting from January 11. Rituraj Gaikwad, who scored a century in the last match, was not selected in the team. Captain Shubman Gill returned and Shreyas Iyer was selected as the vice-captain. The board said that Iyer will be able to play only after fitness clearance by BCCI’s Center of Excellence. Former Indian cricketer Subramaniam is unhappy with the selection of Nitish Kumar Reddy in the team instead of Badrinath Gaikwad.

Former cricketer Subramaniam Badrinath raised questions on the selection of the ODI team against New Zealand. Especially after Rituraj Gaikwad was out and Nitish Kumar Reddy was elected. Giving his opinion in a YouTube video, he said that he could not understand the reason for Nitish’s election. Especially when there are already many experienced all-rounders in the team. According to him, whenever Gaikwad got a chance, he performed well and it is unfortunate to drop him from the team.

What did Badrinath say?

He said, “There are 2 all-rounders in Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, along with them Nitish Kumar Reddy is also in the team. I don’t know why he is in the team. Why is he not in the team and why is Nitish Kumar Reddy in the team? There is definitely something wrong. The rest of the team selections were as expected and very good. The only concern is the selection of Nitish Kumar Reddy in place of Rituraj Gaikwad.”

Rituraj Gaikwad had played a brilliant inning of 105 runs in the second match of the last ODI series, which was his last ODI innings. Their batsman did not come in the third match. He also scored a century (124) against Uttarakhand in Vijay Hazare Trophy.

It is believed that Nitish Kumar Reddy has been selected in the absence of Hardik Pandya. BCCI had said in its statement, “Hardik Pandya has not been given permission by the BCCI COE to bowl 10 overs in a match, and his workload is being managed in view of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.”

India’s ODI squad

Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal.

Here is the complete schedule of the Indian cricket team for 2026, which is confirmed and which is probable. It is going to start with a 3-match ODI series against New Zealand, the first match of which will be held on 11 January. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma will be seen playing in this. Before the T20 World Cup 2026, India will play a 5-match T20 series against New Zealand. There are many series to be held after the World Cup, but the one whose schedule is confirmed is the tour of England. India will play a series of 5 T20 and 3 ODI matches on this tour. First see the confirmed schedule, then information is given about the series whose dates have not been confirmed yet.

India vs New Zealand ODI Series 2026

• 11 January- Vadodara
• 14 January- Rajkot
• 18 January- Indore

India vs New Zealand T20 Series 2026

• 21 January- Nagpur
• 23 January- Naya Raipur
• 25 January- Guwahati
• 28 January- Visakhapatnam
• 31 January- Thiruvananthapuram

t20 world cup 2026 india schedule

• 7 February- vs USA (Mumbai)
• 12 February- vs Namibia (Delhi)
• 15 February- vs Pakistan (Colombo)
• 18 February- vs Netherlands (Ahmedabad)

England vs India T20 Series 2026 Schedule

• 1 July- Riverside Ground
• 4th July- All Trafford Cricket Ground
• 7 July- Trent Bridge
• 9 July- Bristol Cricket Ground
• 11 July – The Ageas Bowl

England vs India ODI Series 2026 Schedule

• 14 July- Birmingham
• 16 July – Cardiff
• 19 July- London

How many test matches will Team India play in 2026?

India’s next series in the World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle is against Sri Lanka, which will be an away series. A 2-match test series will be played here. After this, India will also play a 2-Test series on New Zealand tour. To maintain its chances of going to the finals, Team India has to win 3 out of 4 matches. However, there is news that India can also play a test against Afghanistan in June. That means India will play a total of 5 Tests this year, but none of the dates are confirmed yet.

How many ODI matches will Team India play in 2026?

India will play 3-3 match ODI series against New Zealand in January and against England in July, the schedule of which has been released. Apart from this, India can play a 3-match ODI series against Afghanistan in June. There may be a 3-match ODI series against India and West Indies in September-October.

India can play a 3-match ODI series against Sri Lanka in December. That means India will play a total of 15 ODI matches this year, out of which the schedule of 6 has been confirmed.

How many T20I matches will Team India play in 2026?

After 5 T20 matches in January, India will play in the World Cup to be held in this format. India has 4 matches confirmed in the group stage of T20 World Cup, after which if the team goes to the next stage, its number will increase. After this, India has to play a 5-match T20 series against England in July. That means the schedule of India’s 14 T20 matches is confirmed.

Team India can play a 3-match T20 series against Afghanistan in September, which is mentioned in the FTP. India has to play a 5-match T20 series against West Indies in October, the schedule of which has not been confirmed yet. India will play a series of 6 T20 matches on New Zealand tour in November. The year will end with a 3-match T20 series against Sri Lanka, the schedule for which has not been released yet.

That means, this year the dates of India’s 14 T20 matches have been announced. The dates of 17 matches have not been announced. India will play 31 T20 matches this year, if Team India reaches the final of T20 World Cup 2026, then 4 more matches will be added to it.

The next international series of the Indian cricket team is against New Zealand. The India tour will start with a series of 3 ODI matches, the first match of which will be held on January 11 at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara. BCCI can announce the team in the first week of January. 2 changes are possible in the team.

Indian Test and ODI team captain Shubman Gill was injured in the first Test against South Africa. He suffered a leg injury, after which he was out of the Test and then the entire ODI series. Although he returned from the T20 series, his performance was poor. The result of this was that he was not selected in the team for the T20 World Cup.

Will Shreyas Iyer return?

Talking about Shreyas Iyer, he was badly injured during the Australia tour, he is currently undergoing rehabilitation process at BCCI’s Center of Excellence. The good thing is that Iyer has started practicing batting in the nets, which is very good news for his comeback.

Difficult to have Ishaan or Padikkal in the team

Ishan Kishan and Devdutt Padikkal are performing brilliantly in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, but right now there is no place for them in the team. Ishaan has been selected for the T20 World Cup and the T20 series against New Zealand, but he may have to wait for the ODIs. On the other hand, despite Vijay Hazare scoring two consecutive centuries, it seems difficult for Padikkal to be selected in the team.

Tilak Verma and Dhruv Jurel will be out

With the arrival of Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Verma and Dhruv Jurel will have to be out. KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant will be included in the team as 2 wicketkeepers, Tilak Verma may also have to go out, who was the backup of Rituraj Gaikwad.

Pandya and Bumrah rested

Hardik Pandya and Jasprit Bumrah can be rested from the ODI series. Both are important players in the T20 World Cup, due to workload management they will be rested from the ODI series against New Zealand. He has not played in the last 2 ODI series for India, and this will continue.

Akshar Patel did not play in the ODI against South Africa, the BCCI did not give the reason that he was rested and was ruled out. He may also be out of the ODI series against New Zealand. Ravindra Jadeja may get his last chance, whose performance in the last few matches in this format has not been good. He was dropped from the team in Australia and could not impress with the ball against South Africa.

India’s probable ODI squad against New Zealand

Shubman Gill (captain), Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), Virat Kohli, Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana.