New Delhi, Jan 2, 2026
With the Ajit Agarkar-led national senior selection committee set to meet in online mode on Saturday to finalise India’s squad for the upcoming three-match ODI series against New Zealand, the debate over whether Rishabh Pant can retain his place in the squad will be under huge focus.
A majority of players who played in the 2-1 ODI series win over South Africa, including the veteran Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, are surely going to be there for the three matches against a New Zealand squad which has a fair mix of youngsters and experienced campaigners.
The series begins in Vadodara on January 11, and is followed by clashes in Rajkot and Indore on January 14 and 18 respectively. But when the matter comes to having Pant in the ODI squad, expect a serious discussion to happen in the selection meeting.
Pant’s form in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy has been uneven, with just one half-century in four matches, totalling to 121 runs coming at an average of 30.25. Pant has not played an ODI since featuring against Sri Lanka in August 2024 – it came after he missed substantial game time due to recovering from injuries sustained in a life-threatening car accident in December 2022.
His recent domestic performances have done little to bolster his case, and add to it, KL Rahul’s sparkling form as a first-choice keeper-batter in the ODI team means Pant has been left warming the bench. In 2025, Pant didn’t play a single ODI and was an unused member of the victorious Champions Trophy squad, as well as in the series win over South Africa.
Making things complicated for Pant is the re-emergence of Ishan Kishan, who’s now in the T20 World Cup squad on the back of blazing form in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, as well as Dhruv Jurel making big runs in the Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Already out of India’s T20I side and with his ODI prospects looking bleak, Pant has effectively only the IPL and a handful of Tests later this year to showcase his continued relevance to India’s white-ball plans.
Another name likely to feature in discussions by the selection committee is in-form left-handed batter Devdutt Padikkal, who has scored three centuries in four games in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy.
But with captain Shubman Gill returning, as well as Rohit, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Ruturaj Gaikwad around, it will be interesting to see how the selectors go about in accommodating Padikkal in the squad.
With Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya set to be rested from the ODIs due to the T20 World Cup in mind, it would be interesting to see if Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh could feature in the series.
If the youngsters are to be rested in order to keep them fresh for the T20 World Cup, veteran pacer Mohammed Shami can be in frame of a comeback, though whether the selection committee opts to recall him is uncertain. The spin department appears settled due to the presence of Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Kuldeep Yadav.(Agency)
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