BCCI has included Dhruv Jurel in the ODI team against New Zealand as a replacement for Rishabh Pant. India vs New Zealand 1st ODI is being played today at BCA Stadium in Vadodara, Pant had practiced for about an hour on Saturday. But suddenly he felt pain, after which he had to leave the practice and return.

BCCI said in its statement, “Wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant suddenly felt pain in his lower right abdomen while batting in the nets during India’s practice session at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara on Saturday afternoon.”

BCCE further said, “He was immediately taken for an MRI scan and the BCCI medical team discussed his clinical and radiological reports in detail with an expert. Pant has been diagnosed with a side strain (oblique muscle tear) and hence has been ruled out of the ODI series. The men’s selection committee has included Dhruv Jurel in the squad in place of Pant, and Jurel has joined the team.”

Why Dhruv Jurel is a better replacement

Jurel is the best replacement for Rishabh Pant. The wicketkeeper batsman has had a stellar performance in the ongoing edition of the Vijay Hazare Trophy, scoring more than 500 runs in 7 matches. He had scored 123 runs in the last match against Bengal. Dhruv Jurel, playing for Uttar Pradesh, played an unbeaten inning of 160 runs against Baroda. Apart from these, he has scored half-centuries in 4 innings. Jurel, who is in excellent form, has been included in the national team as a replacement.

India’s updated squad

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

India vs New Zealand ODI series is going to start from January 11. Before that, bad news has come for Team India, because Rishabh Pant has been out of the ODI team due to injury. He suffered an injury on his upper back during practice in Baroda on Saturday. According to PTI, Rishabh Pant came out of the BCA stadium groaning in pain.

Apart from Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul is present in the ODI team as a wicketkeeper. BCCI has not yet announced the replacement of injured Rishabh Pant. There are speculations that Ishan Kishan can replace him, who has been selected as the alternate wicketkeeper in the Indian squad for the T20 World Cup 2026.

On Saturday, Rishabh Pant practiced batting for a long time. Throwdown specialists were giving him batting practice, when while defending on his front foot, a ball hit him on the upper part of his waist. Head coach Gautam Gambhir and support staff had come to the field to inquire about Pant’s condition. Rishabh Pant walked out of the BCA Stadium after initial treatment by the medical team. Meanwhile, Indian ODI and Test team captain Shubman Gill was seen talking to Chief Selector Ajit Agarkar for a long time.

Rishabh Pant was last seen playing an ODI match against Sri Lanka in July 2024. He was a part of the Indian squad for the Champions Trophy 2025, but he did not get a chance to play a single match. He recently captained the Delhi team in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26. He also played 2 half-century innings in this domestic List A tournament of India.

On the other hand, when Mohammad Siraj was practicing batting, he was having difficulty in hitting shots. He got help from Rohit Sharma in improving his batting.

India vs New Zealand first ODI match will be played in Baroda. This ground is going to host a men’s international match for the first time. The second ODI will be played on 14 January in Rajkot and the last ODI match will be played on 18 January in Indore.

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Wicketkeeper batsman Rishabh Pant got injured during practice, after which he had to return from the ground. The first match of India vs New Zealand ODI series will be played on Sunday, January 11 at the BCA Stadium in Vadodara. The news regarding Pant has increased the concern of the fans.

Rishabh Pant played his last ODI in August 2024. He has been struggling with injuries for quite some time, he was injured in England also. He is included in the ODI team against New Zealand as the second wicketkeeper along with KL Rahul. There is a possibility that KL Rahul will be played as wicketkeeper in the first ODI.

Rishabh Pant got injured

According to reports, Rishabh Pant got injured while playing in front of throw down specialists in the nets, a ball hit him just above his waist. After this he walked out of the field. However, before this he had practiced batting for 50 minutes. He looked to be in good shape. However, no official statement has come yet on Pant’s injury.

India vs New Zealand 1st ODI will be played on Sunday, January 11 at BCA Stadium, Vadodara. KL Rahul can be included here as a wicketkeeper batsman, who captained the ODI series against South Africa in the absence of Shubman Gill.

Virat Kohli Rohit Sharma ready for the #INDvNZ ODI’s#TeamIndia , @IDFCFIRSTBank , @imVkohli , @ImRo45 pic.twitter.com/8xWIo7CtBm

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 10, 2026

Indian squad

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

Where to watch live telecast of the match

India vs New Zealand 1st ODI will start at 1:30 pm. The match will be broadcast live on the channels of Star Sports Network. There will be live streaming on JioHotstar app and website.

Shubman Gill’s bat has again failed to score runs. Due to continuous poor form, Gill has not been selected in the T20 World Cup squad. India vs New Zealand ODI series is going to start after a few days, in which Gill will be seen as the captain. But before that his bat remained silent in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. On the other hand, Delhi got victory, but its captain Rishabh Pant is also failing.

Shubman Gill’s bad form continues

On January 6, there was a match between Punjab and Goa, in which Shubman Gill played his first match for Punjab in Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26. Batting first, the Goa team was all out on a score of just 211. Shubman Gill along with Prabhsimran Singh started the Punjab innings. Gill played 12 balls, but he was out after scoring only 11 runs.

Gill had a chance to regain good form before the series against New Zealand, but he has missed this golden opportunity. Let us tell you that Gill will captain the Indian team in the ODI series against New Zealand. On the other hand, due to poor form in T20, Gill has not been selected in India’s T20 World Cup squad.

Rishabh Pant could not walk

Rishabh Pant is captaining the Delhi team in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Pant has scored 2 half-centuries so far in this entire tournament, but there is a lack of consistency in his performance. In the match against Railways, he scored 24 runs in 9 balls. He hit 3 sixes and one four in his short innings, but got out due to playing fast. Pant has so far scored 212 runs in 6 innings of this tournament.

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Under the captaincy of Rishabh Pant, Team India lost by a huge margin of 408 runs in the second test played in Guwahati. With this, South Africa won the 2-match Test series 2-0. In the first test also the visiting team had defeated India badly. Due to Gill’s injury, Rishabh Pant got the chance to captain in the second test, although Pant’s personal performance in the second match was also disappointing. Pant’s total score in both the innings was only 20. Now Pant has apologized to the fans through a post on social media.

Rishabh Pant also admitted that Team India’s performance in the Test series was not good. He wrote, “No one can deny that we have not played good cricket in the last two weeks. As a team and as individuals, we always want to give the highest level of performance and bring smiles on the faces of billions of Indians.”

Sorry, we did not live up to expectations- Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant further wrote, “Sorry we could not live up to the expectations this time, but sports teaches you to learn, adapt and move forward. Both as a team and as an individual. Representing India is the biggest honor of our lives.”

He further wrote, “We know what this team can do and we will work hard to come back stronger and better as a team and as individuals, regroup, refocus and reset. Thank you for your unwavering support and love!”

pic.twitter.com/a5QjzCtY2a

— Rishabh Pant (@RishabhPant17) November 27, 2025

The path to WTC 2027 final became difficult

Now only 9 Tests are left for the Indian cricket team in the World Test Championship 2025-2027 cycle. India has to win at least 7-8 out of 9 matches. Now if Team India loses 2 or more Tests, then the hopes of reaching the final will almost end. Currently, Team India has slipped to fifth position in the points table of ICC Test World Championship 2025-2027.

Under the captaincy of Rishabh Pant, Team India lost by a huge margin of 408 runs in the second test played in Guwahati. With this, South Africa won the 2-match Test series 2-0. In the first test also the visiting team had defeated India badly. Due to Gill’s injury, Rishabh Pant got the chance to captain in the second test, although Pant’s personal performance in the second match was also disappointing. Pant’s total score in both the innings was only 20. Now Pant has apologized to the fans through a post on social media.

Rishabh Pant also admitted that Team India’s performance in the Test series was not good. He wrote, “No one can deny that we have not played good cricket in the last two weeks. As a team and as individuals, we always want to give the highest level of performance and bring smiles on the faces of billions of Indians.”

Sorry, we did not live up to expectations- Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant further wrote, “Sorry we could not live up to the expectations this time, but sports teaches you to learn, adapt and move forward. Both as a team and as an individual. Representing India is the biggest honor of our lives.”

He further wrote, “We know what this team can do and we will work hard to come back stronger and better as a team and as individuals, regroup, refocus and reset. Thank you for your unwavering support and love!”

pic.twitter.com/a5QjzCtY2a

— Rishabh Pant (@RishabhPant17) November 27, 2025

The path to WTC 2027 final became difficult

Now only 9 Tests are left for the Indian cricket team in the World Test Championship 2025-2027 cycle. India has to win at least 7-8 out of 9 matches. Now if Team India loses 2 or more Tests, then the hopes of reaching the final will almost end. Currently, Team India has slipped to fifth position in the points table of ICC Test World Championship 2025-2027.

South Africa has defeated the Indian team 2-0 in the Test series at its home. Team India lost the second test by 408 runs, which is India’s biggest defeat in terms of runs in the history of test cricket. Rishabh Pant was captaining the Indian team in this match, hence the tag of biggest defeat may remain on Pant’s forehead for many years to come. On this shameful defeat, captain Rishabh Pant said that cricket cannot be taken lightly.

Take cricket lightly…

Captain Rishabh Pant said in the post-match presentation, “This defeat is very disappointing, we need to do better as a team. We also have to praise the opposition team because they played better cricket than us. A series like this is very difficult in the beginning, then you start thinking too much, so you have to learn and stay united.”

Rishabh Pant further said, “Obviously they (South Africa) dominated the entire series. You cannot take cricket lightly, even if you are playing on your home ground. We have to keep our mindset clear.”

Shameful record added to Rishabh Pant’s name

Rishabh Pant has now become the Indian captain to suffer the biggest defeat of runs in Test cricket. South Africa has defeated Team India by 408 runs in Guwahati. Earlier, India’s biggest defeat in Test was 342 runs. In the year 2004, Australia defeated the Indian team by 342 runs. The record of biggest defeat as Indian captain was in the name of Rahul Dravid for the last 21 years, but now Rishabh Pant has gone ahead in this list.

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Rishabh Pant is the captain in the Guwahati Test, he has more responsibilities but an irresponsible attitude was seen in his batting. When he came to the crease, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Sai Sudarshan were out within 10 balls. After the continuous fall of wickets, it was expected from the captain that he would play carefully but he was out while trying to hit a six. Captain Pant scored 7 runs in 8 balls.

South Africa had scored 489 runs in the first innings. Senuran Muthusamy scored his first Test century, while bowler Marco Jansson also played an explosive inning of 93 runs. He hit 7 sixes in this innings. It was expected that Indian batsmen would also do well on this pitch, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal had given a good start, but after their dismissal, Team India fell apart. The worst wicket among these was that of captain Rishabh Pant, who was out after playing a bad shot.

The veteran called Rishabh Pant’s shot ‘brainfed’

Former South African fast bowler Dale Steyn described Rishabh Pant’s shot as ‘brainfed’. Although he did not write the name of Rishabh Pant, but after Pant’s dismissal he wrote on social media, “This is just a brainfed shot.” Let us tell you that brainfed means that shot in cricket. It was not played thoughtfully, rather it was played without thinking or by losing concentration. This is irresponsible or a bad shot from one side.

That’s just a brainfade shot

— Dale Steyn (@DaleSteyn62) November 24, 2025

Rishabh Pant hit a six on the second ball

Rishabh Pant had hit a six on his second ball. Even on the ball of Marco Jansson on which he was out, he went ahead and played a big shot. But the ball took the thick edge of the bat and went into the hands of the wicket keeper. The sound came clearly, so the umpire also had no problem in giving out. However, Pant surprised everyone by taking DRS also. Before Pant’s wicket, 3 wickets in the form of Yashasvi Jaiswal (58), Sai Sudarshan (15) and Dhruv Jurel (0) had fallen within 3 overs.

Just saw dismissal of Rishabh Pant seems wasn’t interested to bat today, I know it’s his style of gameplay but wasn’t the right situation #Cricket #indvssa

— Sagar Sirwani (@SagarSirwani03) November 24, 2025

Rishabh pant is the most irresponsible batsman in Indian team. #INDvsSA

— Anirudh dubey (@adnightowl95) November 24, 2025

Rishabh pant needs to understand the situation. Aggression doesn’t mean hitting every ball. You are the captain of India, what are you doing. #TestCricket

— Mahesh Joshi (@MaheshJ61136850) November 24, 2025

Rishabh Pant is the most irresponsible cricketer, always hiding his failures behind the excuse that ‘Yeh toh mera natural game hai’.

— Soumya here (@here_soumya) November 24, 2025

Indian fans also seemed angry with Rishabh Pant’s shot selection and the position in which he tried to play that shot. Fans criticized Pant’s shot on social media.

The first Test between India and South Africa is being played at the Eden Gardens Stadium in Kolkata. Temba Bavuma won the toss and chose to bat first. Ryan Rickelton and Aiden Markram made a steady start, both making half-century partnerships for the first wicket. This partnership was broken by Jasprit Bumrah, he dismissed both the openers in two consecutive overs. After this, Kuldeep Yadav made Temba Bavuma his victim, but before this ball, Rishabh Pant had predicted this wicket.

How did Temba Bavuma get out?

Temba Bavuma was caught out on the last ball of the 16th over. Kuldeep Yadav bowled the ball on the leg side, which Bavuma tried to defend. The ball took the inside edge of the bat and went into the hands of Dhruv Jurel standing in the leg slip. After this, the replays showed that Pant had predicted the wicket one ball earlier, he had also told how Bavuma could play.

What did Rishabh Pant say?

It was shown in the live match that one ball earlier, Rishabh Pant was alerting the fielders standing on the leg side that a catch could come. He had said that Bavuma will play sweep, he may be caught on the leg side. Although Bavuma did not sweep, the ball was caught on the leg side, which was caught by Jurel.

Rishabh Pant was alerting all leg side fielders for Bavuma
Next ball – Bavuma Out

Top notch game sense by Pant pic.twitter.com/8uCjzBwqkd

— (@rishabhhive) November 14, 2025

South Africa scored 105 runs in the first session

In the first session of the first day of the Kolkata Test, South Africa scored 105 runs losing 3 wickets. Jasprit Bumrah dismissed both the openers Aiden Markram (31) and Ryan Rickelton (23). After this Kuldeep dismissed Bavuma.

India vs South Africa test series starts from 14th November. The first test match will be played at Eden Gardens, Kolkata from 14th November. Before that, preparing the best playing eleven has become a headache-inducing task for the team management. Especially the wicketkeeper’s slot is causing great concern. Test team vice-captain Rishabh Pant will be returning from injury, on the other hand, Jurel has also staked claim for a place in the playing eleven by scoring centuries in both the innings of the second unofficial Test match against South Africa A.

Dhruv Jurel has also increased the concern of Team India management because not only against South Africa A, but before that he had also played a century in the first test match against West Indies. Meanwhile, former Indian cricketer Aakash Chopra has talked about giving place to both Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel in the playing eleven in the first test.

Give a chance to both Pant-Jurel…

Aakash Chopra said through his YouTube channel, “Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel, both are in the squad. Rishabh is the vice-captain, so he will play. He will play and he should play. I believe that Dhruv Jurel should also get a chance. There should be a place for him in the playing eleven too. The question will be whether you will remove Sai Sudarshan from the top order or Nitish Kumar Reddy from the lower order.”

oust Nitish

Aakash Chopra further said that Sai Sudarshan should remain at number-3, but Nitish Kumar Reddy has not shown anything special by coming to his place. Chopra said that Nitish could be ousted, which would free up space for Dhruv Jurel.

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