Overview
- India and New Zealand are level at 1–1 in the three-match ODI series, with the deciding game scheduled in Indore on January 18.
- Mohammad Kaif said Axar Patel is "way ahead" of Ravindra Jadeja in white-ball cricket and questioned Axar’s absence from the ODI squad.
- Kaif urged India to field both Axar and Jadeja instead of seam-allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, arguing Axar’s new-ball spin would improve balance.
- Ravindra Jadeja has scored 4 and 27 and gone wicketless in the first two ODIs, extending a stretch of just one wicket in his last five ODIs at an economy of about 6.1.
- Axar Patel, India’s T20 vice-captain, has been rested for this ODI series ahead of T20 commitments, while pacer Mohammed Siraj publicly backed Jadeja, calling his slump a matter of one wicket.