India have not won an ODI in New Zealand since 2019, and Rohit and Kohli are back for the Eden Park opener

India start their five-match ODI series in New Zealand at Eden Park in Auckland on Wednesday, with the first ball at 3pm local time, 7:30am in India. Shubman Gill captains, and Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli play their first ODI since the home series against West Indies finished on 3 October. The record India are up against is a bad one: they have not won an ODI in New Zealand since February 2019.

A seven-year wait

That last win came in Wellington on 3 February 2019, by 35 runs, at the end of a series India took 4-1. Since then they have played six ODIs in New Zealand and lost four, and the other two were washed out. They lost 3-0 in 2020 and 1-0 in 2022, when rain took two of the three games. Eden Park is no better. India have won three of their ten ODIs against New Zealand there.

New Zealand also come in short of two of their best batters. Rachin Ravindra has not recovered well enough from the shoulder he dislocated in September, Mark Chapman has a hamstring problem, and both miss the whole series. Henry Nicholls comes in for the first three games, and Matt Henry is being assessed before the opener. Mitchell Santner captains.

Rohit and Kohli, and a quiet Monday

Rohit and Kohli batted against India’s bowlers at Eden Park on Sunday, then stayed out of Monday’s outdoor session: Kohli went to the gym, and Rohit worked indoors with Ruturaj Gaikwad. Gill had a long session on Monday, batting first and then taking catches all over the outfield. India have one more practice on Tuesday afternoon.

The bigger calls are elsewhere in the side. KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan are both in the squad as wicketkeepers. Rahul made 129 not out in India’s last ODI, against West Indies in Mullanpur, and Kishan has just broken Suryakumar Yadav’s record for the most T20I runs by an Indian in a calendar year. Unless India find room for both, one of them sits out.

Nitish Kumar Reddy is only in the squad for Wednesday’s game before he joins India A ahead of the Tests, so if the management want a look at him with the ball in New Zealand, this is the day.

The pace attack has already lost one man. Prasidh Krishna was ruled out of the series with a hamstring injury, and Auqib Nabi was added for the first three games. Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Anshul Kamboj and Gurnoor Brar are the other seamers, with Kuldeep Yadav and Axar Patel for spin.

What comes after Auckland

Gill leads the first three ODIs, in Auckland, Wellington and Hamilton. Shreyas Iyer, his vice-captain for those games, takes over for the last two at Bay Oval. Then come two Tests, starting at the Basin Reserve on 19 November.

India have just beaten New Zealand 3-2 in the T20Is, so the tour has started well. The recent record says the one-dayers are where it gets harder.

Stay across India’s tour of New Zealand