India’s ODI team faces a renewed New Zealand side that has shed its T20 jitters

By K.R. Nayar

There seems to be a huge challenge facing India’s ODI team, which will play New Zealand in a five-match series starting on November 4, 2026. It is not just about winning the series, as their T20 team did, but about proving that they are formidable in all departments of the game. By losing two consecutive matches after taking an unassailable 3–0 lead in the T20I series, India eventually finished 3–2. And this will surely be a morale booster for New Zealand. Though T20 is different from ODI cricket, a 5–0 series sweep by India would have certainly given their ODI team jitters.

India’s 87-run defeat in Auckland and the seven-wicket defeat in Hamilton have raised two questions. Was it India’s complacency, or did New Zealand work out a formula to dismantle India’s aggressive approach? Indian skipper Shreyas Iyer remarked that the team wanted to experiment and challenge themselves. But there will be questions asked on the need to experiment and take their feet off the accelerator when they were racing towards a 5–0 sweep. Winning a series is no doubt an achievement, but India should have taken care not to let New Zealand finish with a smile ahead of the ODI series.

These two defeats raise another question: Is it acceptable to lose matches after winning a series? No international match should be seen as a licence to relax. Iyer should realise that these defeats add to the number of losses under his captaincy as well as to India’s tally of defeats in foreign countries.  India’s aim should have been to prove that they are formidable and virtually unbeatable, rather than settle for a series victory by a small margin.

When there is an opportunity to prove that India is a power in limited-overs cricket, the team should go all out to make the most of it. Defeats, in whatever form, are setbacks. They affect the character, discipline and hunger of the players.

It also revealed that, on three occasions in 2026, India had conceded more than 250 runs to their opponents – West Indies (252 for four in Ranchi), England (257 for three in Southampton) and New Zealand’s 259 for seven in Auckland. India’s  batting, too, slipped from being invincible to becoming an easily collapsible unit. The ODI team will have to guard against such collapses.

Be it T20 or ODI cricket, Indian batters should create fear among opponents through their consistency. What we saw in the T20 series was that some of the batters either played a brilliant knock or got out for fewer than 10 runs. New Zealand’s Glenn Phillips was remarkably consistent and, despite being part of the losing team, emerged as the Player of the Series.

It is a fact that when Indian batters are in full flow, they can make even the best bowling attacks look ordinary. New Zealand, therefore, identified that taking early wickets was the best way to disrupt India’s rhythm. New Zealand will try to adopt the same approach in the ODI series as well. International matches are not won on reputation, statistics or the number of sixes a team hits during a match. They are won by challenging the opposition and adapting to the conditions on the day.

Was it right to drop young Vaibhav Sooryavanshi after giving him just two opportunities? He scored four runs in the second T20I and followed it up with an impressive 45 in the third, when he and Abhishek Sharma produced that spectacular start. Talent needs backing, not a revolving door. He should be given opportunities to develop into one of India’s star batters across all formats.

A clean sweep in New Zealand would have been a significant statement. It would have demonstrated India’s ability to dominate an entire series away from home, rather than merely win enough matches to secure the result. Now, India’s ODI team will have to deliver that statement.