Indian captain Shubman Gill won the toss and chose to field first in the opening match of the five-match ODI series against New Zealand at Eden Park, Auckland, on Wednesday.
The series marks the return of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to the 50-over format as India focus on their preparations for the 2027 ODI World Cup. India also aim to improve their modest ODI record in New Zealand, where their last victory was recorded in February 2019.
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Since that win, India have participated in two ODI series in New Zealand, suffering 3-0 and 1-0 defeats respectively, with two matches abandoned due to rain during the latter tour.
India have struggled with consistency in the ODI format since their Champions Trophy victory in early 2025, splitting their last six series evenly with three wins and three losses, including defeats against Australia, New Zealand, and England.
In their most recent ODI series against New Zealand, the visitors were defeated 2-1.
At the toss, Shubman Gill said, “We are going to bowl first. (It is a) bit overcast, so any reductions, it’s good to have a target on the board. Everyone is excited and prepared for the series. Conditions we get here are going to be a lot similar to the ones we are going to get in SA. Anshul, Aaqib, Gurnoor and Arshdeep are the pacers.”
New Zealand skipper Mitchell Santner stated, “Conway is doing well. He is going to rest up and obviously not going to play today. So Seifert gets a chance, and like India, we also have four pacers.”
Teams:
New Zealand (Playing XI): Tim Seifert, Will Young, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (wicketkeeper), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner (captain), Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, Jacob Duffy, Blair Tickner.
India (Playing XI): Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Aaqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh.
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