🏏New Zealand Tour of India 2026: 1st ODI: Vodadara on 11/01/26 D/N🏏

🏏New Zealand Tour of India 2026: 1st ODI: at BCA Stadium, Kotambi, Vadodara on 11/01/26 at 1:30 PM IST🏏

The curtains are being pulled up as India (IND) and New Zealand (NZ) are all in readiness to begin their 2026 with the first ODI of the upcoming series at the Baroda Cricket Association Stadium, Vadodara on Sunday, January 11. Both the sides will be meeting in the format for the first time since the Champions Trophy 2025 final, where the Men in Blue emerged as the ultimate winners.

India had a brilliant year in one-day cricket in 2025, where they not only won 11 out of the 14 games played, but also lifted an ICC trophy under the captaincy of Rohit Sharma. This time, though, Shubman Gill is expected to be leading the side for the rest of the year, and will want to make the team reach even greater heights.

New Zealand, on the other hand, had an even better record in One-Day Internationals in 2025, winning a staggering 17 out of 20 encounters. However, they failed to beat the Indians on both the occasions during the calendar year. The Michael Bracewell-led side will want to change the fortunes against India by starting off positively this year.

Team News

India: With Shubman Gill back at the helm, he will naturally take back his place at the top of the order, a move that could confine Yashasvi Jaiswal to the bench. With Mohammed Siraj in the mix, accommodating three specialist pacers will not be easy - meaning one of Prasidh Krishna or Harshit Rana is likely to miss out. It will also be interesting to see whether there is room for all-rounder Nitish Reddy. With Ravindra Jadeja a certainty, the final spot in the XI could come down to a choice between Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar.

Probable XI: Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Shreyas Iyer (VC), Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh.

New Zealand: With Kane Williamson, Mitchell Santner, Tom Latham, Rachin Ravindra and Jacob Duffy out of the squad, it is largely a second-string ODI side under Michael Bracewell. However, the New Zealanders are coming off three successive series wins against Pakistan, England and the West Indies respectively, and Shubman Gill's side would take them lightly only at their peril.

Probable XI: Devon Conway (wk), Will Young, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Michael Bracewell (c), Josh Clarkson, Kristian Clarke, Kyle Jamieson, Aditya Ashok, Michael Rae.

Baroda Cricket Association Stadium — Pitch Report

The game on Sunday is supposed to be the first-ever Men's ODI at the newly constructed venue of the Baroda Cricket Association Stadium in Vadodara. However, in the three Women's ODIs that have been played here, the team batting first has had an advantage, winning twice. The wickets here are largely assistive to the batters, and the tendency of the pitch to slow down in the latter half of the match is likely to influence the team winning the toss to set up a total.

IND vs NZ — Head-to-Head Record in ODIs

Matches Played 120

Won by IND 62

Won by NZ 50

Tied / No Results 08

First-ever Fixture June 14, 1975

Most recent Fixture March 09, 2025

IND vs NZ — Probable Best Perfomers

Probable Best Batter: Virat Kohli

Star batter Virat Kohli is in sublime form and is expected to continue the flowing of runs from his blade on Sunday as well. He was India's highest run-scorer in the format in 2025 with 651 runs, including three centuries and four fifties. He is also pretty close to overtaking Sachin Tendulkar and getting most runs for his country versus New Zealand. The Delhi cricketer is expected to please his millions of fans in the 1st ODI.

Probable Best Bowler: Kyle Jamieson

Ace pacer Kyle Jamieson has been an excellent in utilizing his height to extract bounce and pace even on the surfaces which do not have a lot of the offering. His ability to nip the ball back in and bowl beamers at the batters can result in early breakthroughs for New Zealand, putting the Indians on the back foot right away. He can be the difference between the hosts and a win in Vadodara.

Today Match Prediction: Team batting first to win the match

Disclaimer

The prediction is based on the understanding, analysis, and instinct of the author. While making your prediction, consider the points mentioned, and make your own decision.

Team news: Shreyas returns, Clarke to debut

Shreyas Iyer has had poorer luck than Gill. He plays only one format in international cricket, and there he grievously injured himself while taking a catch in Australia. Back after almost three months, he was nearly bitten by a dog as he went to pet it at an airport. All is well, though, and he can now resume as the vice-captain of the side. Jasprit Bumrah continues to miss the ODIs, but Mohammed Siraj is back and is likely to push Prasidh Krishna out of the XI.

Did you know

India are on a seven-match winning streak against New Zealand. They have not lost an ODI to them since 2023. At home venues, India have won seven successive matches against the visitors since 2017.

Since 2020, India won 9 of the last 10 bilateral ODI series at home. The only defeat came against Australia in March 2023. Overall, post the 2023 World Cup, India played five series, wherein they won three and lost two series against Sri Lanka (2024, away) and Australia (2025, away) respectively.

On the other hand, New Zealand is on a four-bilateral ODI series winning streak. Post the last 50-over World Cup, they have won five out of the last six series they played. The only defeat for them came against Sri Lanka in an away series.

Thanks for the tag 💙.

If VK and RO are there, there's some interest.

Rishabh pant should reduce some weight and focus more on his fitness else he can't play test and ODI.