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Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer split New Zealand ODI captaincy
Indian cricket selectors have named Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer to share captaincy duties across the upcoming five-match ODI series against New Zealand. Gill will lead the national side during the opening three one-day matches before handing leadership over to Iyer for the final two games. Selection committee officials also announced the sixteen-member Test group for the forty-day tour, which begins on October 22 shortly after India wraps up its home series against the West Indies. Scheduled between November 4 and November 15 across four venues, the fifty-over fixtures serve as an important building block for the 2027 ODI World Cup. This trip marks India's first Test visit to New Zealand since 2019 and its first white-ball series in the country since 2022, testing the squad against early-summer swing and bounce in Oceania.
Split leadership and White-Ball squads
Senior batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli appear in the sixteen-player rosters for all five one-day matches, alongside Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Gurnoor Brar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, and Kuldeep Yadav. During the first three ODIs under Gill and deputy Iyer, wicketkeepers KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan join pacers Anshul Kamboj and Prasidh Krishna, whose participation remains subject to fitness clearance. For the fourth and fifth ODIs under Iyer, Ishan Kishan steps up as vice-captain while wicketkeeper Kumar Kushagra, batter Tilak Varma, pacer Auqib Nabi, and fast bowler Yash Thakur enter the group in place of Gill, Rahul, Kamboj, and Krishna.
Red-Ball returns and World Test Championship stakes
Following the white-ball leg, two Test matches will play a major role in deciding ICC World Test Championship final qualification for both nations. Akash Deep, Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, and Washington Sundar return to the Test fold under captain Shubman Gill and vice-captain KL Rahul. Joining them in the sixteen-man red-ball squad are Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, wicketkeepers Dhruv Jurel and Rishabh Pant—whose inclusion depends on fitness—alongside Ravindra Jadeja, Anshul Kamboj, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, and Mohammed Siraj.
Complete match schedule across four venues
Five T20 Internationals kick off the tour in Christchurch on October 22 and October 24, followed by Wellington on October 27, Auckland on October 30, and Hamilton on November 1. Fifty-over action begins in Auckland on November 4, moves to Wellington on November 7 and Hamilton on November 10, and wraps up in Mount Maunganui on November 13 and November 15. Red-ball play concludes the tour with the first Test in Wellington from November 19 to 23 and the second Test in Christchurch from November 27 to December 1, 2026.
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