Holes India need to plug & changes they need to make in ODI side after series loss against NZ

Team India’s ODI flaws exposed against New Zealand — analysing the holes to plug and changes needed for a stronger team combination.

When New Zealand announced their ODI squad for the India trip, most of the players were unfamiliar to world cricket. It was supposed to be three matches, offering a new experience for the Kiwi side under Michael Bracewell’s leadership. India were always the front-runners to claim the series victory or even make it a whitewash. Their strong home record reflects their dominance.

Since the beginning of 2016, India have played 19 home bilateral ODI series. Out of those, they have earned 16 series victories and three defeats. Two of those three series defeats came against Australia. That means this 2-1 home series loss against New Zealand is their only home series defeat in the last 10 years, apart from the current World champions. This is also their first home 50-over bilateral series defeat since March 2019.

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Let’s dissect the holes India need to plug and changes they need to make after NZ series defeat

After this home series, the focus will move to the T20 World Cup 2026, followed by the Indian Premier League (IPL). That will give the management enough time to make tough but important decisions for the 50-over side’s development.

India’s poor middle overs’ bowling and batting
Since the beginning of October 2025, India have struggled badly in their middle overs, both in the batting and bowling departments. They have earned just four wins in nine 50-over games, three of which came at home out of six encounters.

The biggest issue has been their spin bowling department. They have not been up to the mark in their skills during that period. India’s spinners have not earned enough wickets in the middle phase of the innings, which puts enormous pressure on the team in the death overs.

In those nine innings, India’s spinners have picked up only 16 wickets between overs 11 and 40 at an average of 55.19. They also carried the poor strike rate of 54.38 at an economy rate of more than six, which has soaked the momentum on most occasions.

Once it comes to the pace bowling department during the middle overs, it equally continues to suffer. India’s pacers have leaked runs at an economy rate of 6.72 in the nine ODI innings. They have bagged 16 wickets at a strike rate of close to 40. The heavy number of wickets never helps at such an expensive economy rate.

In the recent New Zealand ODI series at home, India have struggled in the middle overs’ batting. During the three innings, they collected 482 runs at an average of 40.17, losing 12 wickets at a strike rate of 89.26. This is never going to be enough in terms of modern ODI cricket.

Meanwhile In the same series, the Kiwis managed 536 runs at 67 with a strike rate of 99.26 and lost only eight wickets in three innings. The biggest reason for their dominance was having a set batter, Daryl Mithcell, in Rajkot and Indore, to tick the scorecard.

India and New Zealand’s batting performance in this series vs spinners in over 11-40

The bottom line remains simple. New Zealand’s spin combination of part-timer Bracewell, Glenn Phillips, and Jayden Lennox, playing his second ODI in Indore, out-bowled India’s two veteran spinners- Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav.

Read More: Are India carrying Ravindra Jadeja in the ODI format?

Has Ravindra Jadeja played his final ODI?
The question remains valid. Ravindra Jadeja, walking back on 12 in Indore, perhaps has played his final ODI for the national side. At 159/5 with the dismissal of Nitish Reddy in the 338-run chase, it was needed for the southpaw to build a partnership with well-set Virat Kohli. But he lost his patience after playing 15 balls.

In this series, Ravindra struggled with 43 runs at 14.33, besides bowling 23 wicket-less overs at an economy rate of 6.13. This is a massive concern for the management that their veteran spinner has failed to be in the wickets column in five of the last six ODIs. And once Kuldeep went for an economy of over seven, the situation got worse.

Moreover, the Saurashtra batter’s last half-century in a home ODI came more than 13 years ago. This is probably the right time for the management to bring Axar Patel back into the ODI squad. Axar has bagged 11 wickets in as many ODI innings at an economy rate of 4.47 since the beginning of 2025.

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Shubman Gill’s captaincy- more reactive than being proactive
In the first 10 overs of the innings, Shubman Gill gets his planning right. Once it reaches the middle overs, India’s captain seems to be a bit clueless. That’s actually the most important phase for any leader to manage his bowlers.

Harshit Rana has struggled in the death overs (41-50) with an economy of 7.21 since the beginning of 2025. Yet, Gill makes the Delhi pacer bowl in that phase. Mohammad Siraj was excellent with variations and line and length in the Indore ODI. But he only bowled three of the last ten overs. Meanwhile, Harshit’s 47th and 49th overs cost the blue brigade 26 runs.

That’s the issue with Gill. He is more of a reactive leader than a proactive one. He needs to use his spinners in the right match-up. In Indore, he introduced Jadeja in the 30th over of the innings. And by the time the left-arm spinner settled in his line and length, the two set Kiwi batters tore him apart.

Though Gill has done well with the bat, with two half-centuries, and also looked fluent in the third ODI (23 off 18).

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Rohit Sharma suffers dip in form
After a strong series against South Africa with two half-centuries, Rohit Sharma struggled with 61 runs at 20.33 against New Zealand. He got some starts but couldn’t stretch them to big knocks. Moreover, the Nagpur-born kept getting dismissed in the same manner throughout the series. He failed to get the right elevation on most occasions to clear the 30-yard circle.

Undoubtedly, there is pressure on the veteran. In case, he has a poor IPL, the selectors may look to replace him with Yashasvi Jaiswal when India lock horns with England. Jaiswal had scored his maiden ODI century in the previous contest against the Proteas in Visakhapatnam.

India’s next ODI series will be in England. The opening game of the three matches will begin on July 14 at Edgbaston.

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