Hardik Pandya isn’t part of India’s ODI squad for the New Zealand series despite playing in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. Here’s why.
BCCI want to manage Hardik Pandya's workload ahead of T20 World Cup
Pandya was away from the international setup after suffering a quadriceps injury during the 2025 Asia Cup. After a lengthy road to recovery, he returned to competitive cricket in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, playing two games for Baroda, where he bowled his full quota of four overs each and also scored a quickfire 77* against Punjab.
Having returned to full fitness, Pandya was picked for the T20I series against South Africa, where he played four games but didn’t bowl more than three overs in any of them. He also showed signs of getting back to his best with the bat, hitting two fifties.
But with the T20 World Cup coming up in February 2026, the BCCI decided to manage Pandya’s workload and did not pick him for the three-ODI series against New Zealand. He wasn’t “cleared by the BCCI COE to bowl 10 overs in a match, and considering the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup to follow, his workload is being managed.”
1st ODI, India vs New Zealand
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The pace-bowling all-rounder was, however, selected in the T20I squad for the five-match series against the Kiwis and also for the World Cup. Notably, the BCCI picked two mutually exclusive sides for the ODI and T20I series, with only Washington Sundar part of both the white-ball squads.
However, even as the BCCI kept Pandya away from ODI duties, he bowled 10 overs in his latest VHT appearance on Thursday, January 8. Playing against Chandigarh, he scored a 31-ball 75 before being the only bowler from the Baroda side to complete his quota of overs, returning figures of 3-66. The all-rounder also scored a century against Vidarbha in the VHT, signalling he was raring to go in the upcoming T20 World Cup.
India playing XI for the first New Zealand ODI
Shubman Gill, meanwhile, won the toss in Vadodara and chose to field first. The captain returned to the XI in place of Yashasvi Jaiswal, while vice-captain Shreyas Iyer also marked his comeback, getting back into the team for Ruturaj Gaikwad. Mohammed Siraj is also playing his first ODI since the Australia tour last year.
India XI for the first ODI against New Zealand: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.
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