Virat Kohli will be back in action in the three-match ODI series against New Zealand. The star Indian batter has started the preparations and even posted about it on his social media handles.
Kohli has been in a terrific form in One-Day format having hit 6 50+ scores. He had a couple of disappointing outings during the Australia tour but made a brilliant come back to end the Tour DownUnder with a fantastic half-century. Later, he continued his batting form against South Africa at home as Kohli notched up two tons on the trot and followed it with a brisk fifty.
The Indian batter then made a return to Vijay Hazare Trophy after 15 years and celebrated it with another hundred against Andhra and a fifty against Gujarat.
Touchdown ✈️ Vadodara
Preps underway as #TeamIndia gear up for their first challenge of 2026 👊#INDvNZ | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/ryykzbrNCR
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 9, 2026
New year, fresh start 💪
📸 Glimpses from #TeamIndia‘s first training session in Vadodara ahead of the #INDvNZ ODIs 👌@IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/itTwA5fKDF
— BCCI (@BCCI) January 9, 2026
Virat Kohli in the practice session. 😄 pic.twitter.com/Y2Cd1F5OLZ
— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) January 9, 2026
The three-match ODI series begins on Sunday (January 11) in Baroda. The Men In Blue dominated South Africa in the ODI series winning the series 2-1 and will look to continue momentum in the fixtures against the Kiwis.
The two teams will then move to Rajkot for the second ODI on January 14 while the third and final clash will take place on January 18 in Indore.
New Zealand are also scheduled to play a five-match T20I series ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026. The series starts on January 21 in Nagpur.
India’s ODI squad: Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (WK), Shreyas Iyer (VC), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal
Hardik Pandya has not been 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.
New Zealand: Michael Bracewell (capt), Adithya Ashok, Kristian Clarke, Josh Clarkson, Devon Conway, Zak Foulkes, Mitch Hay (wk), Kule Jamieson, Nick Kelly, Jayden Lennox, Daryl Mitchell, Henry Nicholls, Glenn Phillips, Michael Rae, Will Young
