Former Indian all-rounder Irfan Pathan named his ODI XI for the opening game of the New Zealand ODI series. The cricketer, who has been a great servant to Indian cricket at some point, did not pick KL Rahul in the XI and instead opted for Rishabh Pant.
India will be hosting New Zealand for an intense series in 2026, as they begin their cricketing schedule for the year on the 11th of January. They have already made the headlines for controversial selections, which excluded centurion Ruturaj Gaikwad, and instead, several controversial picks were included.
Branding the upcoming series as a massive opportunity for wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant, who has been on the sidelines for a massive period of time, might get his first game after ages. He was part of the Indian team but did not play a single game in 2025 in the one-day format.
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KL Rahul gets sidelined; Rishabh Pant makes ODI return after a dominant domestic season
As the New Zealand series arrives, Irfan Pathan has picked a probable playing XI which includes many surprises, and the biggest of them is star wicket-keeper KL Rahul being benched. The batter had captained India in Shubman Gill’s absence in the last series against South Africa.
Shubman Gill will return as the captain of the team, accompanied by vice-captain Shreyas Iyer, who recovered from an injury that ruled him out of the South Africa series. Instead, Ruturaj Gaikwad was also ruled out of the squad, which makes way for a specialist batter in the middle order.
Rishabh Pant has been waiting for his chance since 2024, when he played his last ODI game against Sri Lanka. He had a promising season in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, backing himself with a couple of half-centuries. KL Rahul, on the other hand, was not a part of the Vijay Hazare Trophy season.
Irfan Pathan names three all-rounders in the Indian lineup
While picking the squad, no selector or even the Indian head coach Gautam Gambhir would have imagined making all three all-rounders a part of the playing XI. However, Pathan included all three all-rounders, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, and Nitish Kumar Reddy, for depth and stability in the side.
Pathan’s suggestion seems very unlikely, as he feels that Kuldeep Yadav is also a must-pick and would replace either Harshit Rana or Arshdeep Singh. For India, it seems most likely that either Reddy or Sundar will play as the second all-rounder in the side.
A situation might also arise when Rishabh Pant might play in the middle order as a specialist batter, with KL Rahul in the side as the wicket-keeper of the Indian team.
Irfan Pathan predicts India’s playing XI for the First NZ ODI
Rishabh Pant has featured in only one ODI since the unfortunate accident in 2022, while he also won the Champions Trophy without having won a game, as KL Rahul held the spot since the CWC 2023. Pant has been featured in the Vijay Hazare Trophy and will be playing the next two rounds before heading to Vadodara to join the Indian squad.
“Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana/Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh/Kuldeep Yadav, and Mohammed Siraj,” Irfan Pathan picked his Playing XI on his YouTube channel.
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