India face New Zealand in the 2nd ODI at Rajkot, aiming to seal the series. Hardik Pandya remains absent after not being cleared to bowl 10 overs, while Washington Sundar is injured and replaced by Ayush Badoni. New Zealand won the toss and elected to field first.
India continue their ODI series against New Zealand with the second match scheduled for January 14 at the Niranjan Shah Stadium in Rajkot. The hosts come into the game with a 1โ0 lead and an opportunity to seal the three-match series on home soil.
One notable absentee for India remains Hardik Pandya. The star all-rounder was not selected in the ODI squad for the series, with the decision taken after the Centre of Excellence did not clear him to bowl a full 10-over spell in matches. While Pandya did bowl his full quota in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025โ26, the team management has chosen to prioritise his workload with the T20 World Cup 2026 approaching, focusing on managing his fitness rather than rushing him back into the 50-over format.
India have also been forced into a squad change ahead of the second ODI. Washington Sundar has been ruled out of the remainder of the series due to injury and has been replaced by Ayush Badoni, adding depth to the batting and an additional bowling option. However, he didnโt make it to the playing XI as Nitish Kumar Reddy was picked for the Pandya role.
New Zealand win toss, elect to bowl first
Meanwhile, New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl first in Rajkot. India captain Shubman Gill, however, was happy with batting first as he cited that the dew was insignificant during their practice session last night and that assured him to bat first today.
โActually, we would have batted first. Looking at the last few games that we’ve played here, even yesterday there wasnโt much dew, so we are looking to bat first. As I spoke to some of the players, they said as the innings goes on, it has the tendency to get a little bit slow,โ Gill said after the toss.