Overview
- BCCI confirmed Pant suffered a side strain (oblique muscle tear) in training and ruled him out of the three-match ODI series, with Dhruv Jurel added as replacement.
- Shubman Gill won the toss and elected to field, naming a six-bowler XI featuring spinners Kuldeep Yadav, Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja.
- Harshit Rana, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna formed the pace attack as India adjusted for expected evening dew at the BCA Kotambi Stadium.
- KL Rahul took wicketkeeping duties for the first ODI, while Jurel, though called up to the squad, was not included in the playing XI.
- New Zealand named a depleted side under Michael Bracewell, handed Kristian Clarke an ODI debut with Adithya Ashok leading spin, and featured in the venue’s first men’s international.