India captain Shubman Gill won the toss and elected to bowl against New Zealand in the opening match of the five-match ODI series at Eden Park in Auckland on Wednesday.
The series marks the return of senior batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli to the 50-over format as India step up preparations for the 2027 ODI World Cup.
India will also aim to improve their ODI record in New Zealand, where they last registered a victory in February 2019. Since then, the visitors have played two ODI series in the country, suffering 3-0 and 1-0 defeats, with two matches washed out during the latter tour.
The Men in Blue have struggled for consistency in the format since winning the Champions Trophy in early 2025. Of the six ODI series played since then, India have won three and lost three, with defeats against Australia, New Zealand and England.
In their previous bilateral ODI series, New Zealand defeated India 2-1.
Speaking at the toss, Gill said the overcast conditions influenced his decision to bowl first.
“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,” Gill said.
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner confirmed that Devon Conway would miss the opening match, providing an opportunity for Tim Seifert.
“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,” Santner said.
Playing XIs:
New Zealand: Tim Seifert, Will Young, Henry Nicholls, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Latham (w), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner (c), Nathan Smith, Kyle Jamieson, Jacob Duffy, Blair Tickner.
India: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Axar Patel, KL Rahul (w), Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh.
(With ANI inputs)
