Former India opener Aakash Chopra picked his Indian playing XI for the ODI series opener against New Zealand to be played in Vadodara on Sunday, January 11 (via Crex. live Instagram handle). The two teams will play three ODIs, followed by five T20Is, ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup in February.
Chopra picked the tried-and-tested top three of Rohit Sharma, Shubman Gill, and Virat Kohli. With Shreyas Iyer back from injury, the former opener picked the right-hander at No. 4, followed by wicketkeeper batter KL Rahul at No.5.
Chopra went for the all-rounder trio of Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar at No. 6, 7, and 8. Finally, the specialist bowlers, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, and Mohammed Siraj, rounded off the 11.
Chopra left out Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Rishabh Pant, and Yashasvi Jaiswal from his playing XI among the players part of the 15-member squad.
Aakash Chopra’s Team India playing XI for 1st ODI against New Zealand
Rohit Sharma, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj
Team India is coming off an excellent 2025 ODI season
The Men in Blue enjoyed incredible success in ODIs last year, starting with their title run in the Champions Trophy. After crushing England 3-0 at home, India went unbeaten in the Champions Trophy in Dubai.
They stuttered slightly with a 1-2 series loss in Australia later in the year, but finished 2025 strong with a 2-1 series win at home against South Africa. India won 11 out of their 14 overall ODIs in 2025 despite the captaincy change from Rohit Sharma to Shubman Gill during the season.
KL Rahul led the side in their final ODI series of the year against the Proteas, with Gill missing the series due to injury.
With the ODI World Cup set to be played next year, Team India will look to continue their dominant run, starting with the upcoming New Zealand series. India and New Zealand last met in an ODI in the 2025 Champions Trophy final, with the former prevailing by four wickets.
The two teams last met in a bilateral ODI series way back at the start of the 2023 season, with India winning 3-0.
Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran
