1st ODI: Spotlight on Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli again as India face New Zealand

VADODARA: Staging a men’s international game after 15 years, this city, which owes its name to the presence of many badh (banyan) trees, could not have asked for a better return to big-time cricket. India’s ODI team is still powered by modern-day legends Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who attract the eyeballs.


Kohli, who scored 63 off 70 balls in the last ODI in Vadodara on Dec 4, 2010, is still going strong, and with both looking in good form, India will look to land the first punch against a new-look New Zealand in the opening ODI on Sunday. It will be the first-ever men’s international game at the new BCA Stadium in Kotambi and a sellout crowd of 31,000 people is expected.




While all the focus will be on ‘RoKo’, it will be interesting to see how India’s Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill bounces back after being dropped from the T20 World Cup team after a lean run in the shortest format. The series will also mark the return to action of India’s ODI vice-captain Shreyas Iyer. Iyer was forced to watch from the sidelines for a good three months due to a serious spleen injury that he suffered during the 3rd and final ODI in Sydney against Australia last Oct.


Missing many key players like former captain Kane Williamson (busy with SA20), left-hander Tom Latham (back home due to the birth of his first child), left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner (groin injury), pacer Matt Henry, opener Rachin Ravindra and fast bowler Jacob Duffy, New Zealand will be captained by all-rounder Michael Bracewell. Bracewell, who enjoyed a good white-ball tour to India in early 2023, will aim to give exposure to some of the younger players on this tour.

However, it’s the dazzling presence of Kohli and Rohit which has elevated the status of this three-match ODI series, which otherwise has little relevance with the T20 World Cup in India and Sri Lanka less than a month away. Following up on their terrific run against Australia and South Africa, the superstar pair continued their fine run while playing a couple of matches for Delhi and Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy’s league round. Kohli slammed 131 against Andhra and 77 versus Gujarat while Rohit, who also seems to have rediscovered his ODI mojo, got 155 against Sikkim. Both looked in prime form in the nets here.


Gill’s return, however, means that opener Yashasvi Jaiswal, who scored his maiden ODI ton in the last match against South Africa, will have to miss out. With Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya rested, Mohammed Siraj gets a chance to prove his ODI worth.


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