India Face New Zealand in First ODI Opener at Auckland

India begin the five-match one-day international series against New Zealand on Wednesday at Eden Park in Auckland. The team comes into this game after winning the T20 international series three matches to two. Senior players Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli return to the squad for these fifty-over games. Shubman Gill will captain the team for the first three matches, while Shreyas Iyer takes over the leadership role for the final two games.

Match Schedule

The toss for the opening match happens at 7:00 am, and the game starts at 7:30 am. Fans in the country can watch the live telecast on Sony Sports Network. Digital live streaming is available on the SonyLIV app and website.

Squad Details

The Indian squad features KL Rahul, Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Gurnoor Brar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Kishan, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy who plays only the first ODI, and Auqib Nabi. Tilak Varma, Kumar Kushagra, and Yash Thakur join the team for the last two games. Mitchell Santner captains the New Zealand team, which includes players like Devon Conway, Tom Latham, and Rachin Ravindra for the first three matches.

Context

One-day international cricket matches consist of fifty overs per side and form a major part of bilateral tours between major cricketing nations. Teams often rotate captains and squad members across different formats of the game to manage player workload and test bench strength.