India’s Two Squads for New Zealand: The Unfinished ODI Argument Behind the Test Priority

Four players will leave India’s ODI squad after the third match of the five-match series against New Zealand—Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Prasidh Krishna and Anshul Kamboj—to prepare for the two-Test series that begins four days after the fifth ODI. That scheduling detail is the real selection story. I went back to the tape, and the tape went back to me: when a tour squad is announced, the first thing I check is not who is in it but who leaves it, and when. The timeline tells you which format the management is actually protecting.

The BCCI’s squads had few surprises in T20Is. The ODI and Test teams carried the real signals. India have chosen red-ball preparation even with the 2027 ODI World Cup less than a year away and World Test Championship final qualification looking unlikely. Wisden’s report on 17 October 2026 framed the tension clearly: Test preparation or white-ball continuity?

The first three ODIs will be led by Gill, with Shreyas Iyer as vice-captain and Rahul keeping wicket. The last two ODIs will be led by Shreyas, with Ishan Kishan as vice-captain and wicketkeeper, and Kumar Kushagra as the third keeper. The Test squad has Gill as captain, Rahul as vice-captain, Pant and Jurel as keepers, Jadeja, Washington and Kuldeep as spinners, and Bumrah, Siraj, Prasidh, Akash Deep and Kamboj as seam options. India are effectively building two ODI teams, while the Test team pulls four players out of that structure.

A 4-3-3 is not a shape. It is a set of arguments with itself. An ODI XI is the same. If the first three ODIs and the last two ODIs are different teams, the question is whether India are testing one side or running two sides in one series. The biggest ODI questions before the World Cup are the No. 4-6 batting roles, the fifth bowler, and the wicketkeeping-captaincy chain. In the first three games, Siraj, Arshdeep, Prasidh or Kamboj, and Kuldeep form the bowling spine. In the last two, Prasidh and Kamboj are gone; Yash Thakur and Auqib Nabi come in. That changes the new-ball and death-over roles, not just the names.

Anshul Kamboj is the cleanest signal in the squad. He has been rewarded for domestic consistency and India A performances. He was with India A in England in 2026 and was fast-tracked into the Test squad after Arshdeep Singh’s injury, making his debut. His ODI debut came similarly: he was withdrawn from India A’s four-day game against Australia A to play the third ODI against West Indies after Prasidh’s injury. Kamboj’s rise is not a straight merit line; it is an availability curve. With Prasidh’s fitness uncertain, Kamboj could play the first three ODIs. If he finds seam movement with the new ball and yorkers at the death, Prasidh will not walk back in easily.

Ishan Kishan was outside India’s ODI plans until recently. He returned against Afghanistan in June and hit a rapid century in Lucknow. Four months later, he is vice-captain for the last two ODIs in New Zealand. He has played and performed across formats, including a double hundred in the Duleep Trophy final as captain. Kishan’s vice-captaincy is not just a reward for batting form; it is a tactical signal about the post-Rahul ODI wicketkeeping chain. He will keep in the last two games, with Kushagra as cover.

Naman Dhir has moved from international debut to World Cup conversation within a month. He has played every match since his call-up and now has an ODI spot. A batting all-rounder who bowls handy off-spin, he fits the Gautam Gambhir archetype: lower-order runs plus five or six overs of finger spin. He looks like an alternative to Washington Sundar. If Dhir can give five or six overs as the sixth bowler, India can play three seamers and Kuldeep; but that reduces batting depth. That trade-off is the real test of the first three ODIs.

Kumar Kushagra, the 21-year-old wicketkeeper-batter from Jharkhand, has his maiden international call-up for the last two ODIs because Rahul leaves for Test preparation. Kushagra will already be in New Zealand with India A, called up for the three unofficial Tests against New Zealand A as Pant’s replacement. He had a strong Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, a century in the Duleep Trophy final for East Zone, and a hundred for India A against Australia A in Puducherry. A debut is unlikely because Kishan is ahead in the keeping queue. This is a pipeline signal, not an immediate XI signal.

Yashasvi Jaiswal’s omission is the most debated call. Even with Gill and Rahul absent from the last two ODIs, Jaiswal did not find a spot. He is in the India A squad for the three four-day games against New Zealand A. He has two hundreds in his last three ODIs, including one against Afghanistan in June. The half-space is not a place; it is a question asked too late. By not testing Jaiswal in the top-order half-space between No. 3 and No. 4, India are saying Test preparation matters more right now. This is not a punishment for form; it is a signal of priority. The question is whether India can afford to leave a left-handed top-order alternative untested before the 2027 World Cup.

Ravindra Jadeja’s ODI career may be over. Naman Dhir’s emergence and Jadeja’s waning white-ball power have cost him his ODI spot. He has two wickets in five ODIs this year at 135. India are unlikely to take him to South Africa next year. Axar Patel, Washington Sundar and Dhir are ahead of him as spin-bowling all-rounders. Jadeja’s omission is not just a personal decline; it is a signal that India’s white-ball all-rounder role is shifting from control to batting depth. He remains in the Test squad because his red-ball value is different.

Manav Suthar’s absence is another puzzle. He is in the India A squad for New Zealand but not the senior Test squad. India already have Jadeja, Washington and Kuldeep for conditions that are not as spin-friendly as the subcontinent. Gambhir prefers batting depth over bowling strength, and that is where Washington trumped Suthar. Yet Suthar has 23 wickets in three Tests at 17.34, including a six-wicket haul on debut, and 27 wickets in six County Championship matches for Warwickshire at 19.92. This is a tactical choice, but it carries risk: if the top order collapses, No. 8 batting depth will not help when the ball starts turning on the last day.

The headline says India are prioritising Test cricket even though the ODI World Cup is less than a year away and WTC final qualification is unlikely. That criticism is fair. But the deeper blind spot is different. India are not choosing Test over ODI; they are choosing audition over combination. Two different ODI teams, two captains, two wicketkeeping arrangements and two bowling attacks in one series test individual roles but not team continuity.

The winners and losers list is really an availability list. Kamboj wins because Prasidh’s fitness is uncertain; Kishan wins because Rahul leaves for Tests; Dhir wins because Washington’s role is unresolved; Kushagra wins because Pant is absent and India A are in New Zealand. These are schedule-driven outcomes, not a clear pecking order. When a selection system runs two XIs in one series, winner and loser do not describe settled roles; they describe access.

Star presence also matters. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli stay in the ODI squad while Jaiswal misses out. This is not a conspiracy; big-name presence narrows selectors’ room to take risks, and media and stadium pressure shrink the decision space. The same form is weighed differently for less celebrated names. That inconsistency is not an exception to the rules; it is the normal result of pressure.

The biggest execution risk is the mid-series captaincy switch. Gill’s field settings and bowling rotations in the first three games, then Shreyas’s different reading in the last two, can create two tactical languages in one series. Kishan is vice-captain but not captain; Kushagra sits on the bench; Dhir’s overs depend on match state. If Kamboj and Kuldeep work as a pair in the first three games, Prasidh’s return will change the death plan; if that change is part of the test, fine; if it is forced, continuity suffers.

So what should we watch in the first three ODIs? Kamboj’s new-ball spell, Prasidh’s fitness, Kishan’s batting position, and Dhir’s five or six overs. In the last two, watch Shreyas’s captaincy, Kishan’s vice-captaincy, Kushagra on the bench, and Tilak Varma’s No. 3-4 role. In the Tests, watch Suthar’s omission against Washington’s batting depth, Jadeja’s red-ball role, and Jaiswal’s opening partnership. I trust the tagged clip over the crowd; in this series, that clip is the first three ODIs’ bowling rotation.

If Kamboj performs in the first three games, who makes way when Prasidh is fit? If Kishan scores at No. 4, does Rahul keep the ODI gloves? If Dhir bowls six overs, does Washington become a Test-only cricketer? The squad does not answer these questions yet; the first three matches will.

India’s selection architecture has built a bridge between formats. The bridge works if roles are clear; it collapses if two XIs become two separate teams. The question is this: is India building two teams, or splitting one team in half to test its unfinished argument?