Both Ravindra Jadeja and Yashasvi Jaiswal were left out of the ODI squad India's selectors assembled for the forthcoming tour of New Zealand, with Jadeja's standing as a seasoned all-rounder doing little to secure his place and Jaiswal's limited exposure outside Test cricket reflected in his omission from the group.

On Friday evening, the men's selection committee chaired by Pragyan Ojha announced both the One-Day and Test squads, a decision that left Jadeja without a place in the 50-over format. Jadeja found himself behind Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, and Nitish Kumar Reddy when the selectors drew up the batting order.

Recalled to the squad for a three-match ODI series against the West Indies, Jadeja bowled across two of those fixtures — returning figures of 0/54 and 2/75 — before team management and the captain chose not to include him for the final match, a call that at least one observer disputed, contending that the all-rounder had not, in their view, been dropped in any conventional sense. The player was rested, according to the manager, so that others in the squad could get minutes on the pitch.

Gill noted that rotating players into the XI becomes harder to justify when a format offers only three matches, pointing to that constraint as the reason Jadeja did not feature in the third ODI against the West Indies. Jadeja's most recent ODI appearance before this series came against New Zealand back in January, and he played no part in the one-day series against England, which India lost.

Shifting focus toward the 2027 ODI World Cup on African soil, Gambhir and the team's management began weighing other options as part of a broader succession blueprint. Patel, whose T20I appearances have kept him in selectors' thinking, is among those being considered to fill the vacancy left by Jadeja in the ODI lineup ahead of the tournament.

Axar has established a place in India's white-ball squad, with the selection panel opting for the all-rounder — whose skill set draws comparison to Jadeja's — to anchor the lower-order batting position. Questions about Jadeja's place in the World Cup squad have been raised in media coverage, though no official selection decision has been confirmed.

Jaiswal, who has established himself as a Test opener, is among those whose prospects for a place in the 2027 ODI World Cup squad appear to have dimmed alongside Jadeja's. Jaiswal's name was left off the squad for the last two ODIs against New Zealand, even though he had put himself forward for consideration and Shubman Gill — who serves as both opener and ODI captain — was given a rest for those matches.

His schedule will now include appearances for India 'A' alongside the pair of Test matches that follow. Jaiswal's pathway into ODI cricket remains on hold, with Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill holding down the top-order slots and Ishan Kishan available as cover.

Shubman Gill will lead the side for the opening three matches of the ODI series against New Zealand, with Shreyas Iyer named as his deputy, while the 16-player group also features Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Anshul Kamboj, and Gurnoor Brar.

For the fourth and fifth ODIs, the squad named features Shreyas Iyer at the helm, with Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Auqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, Arshdeep Singh, Yash Thakur, and Kuldeep Yadav among the selected players, while wicketkeeper duties are shared between Ishan Kishan — who also holds the vice-captaincy — and Kumar Kushagra, alongside Ruturaj Gaikwad and Mohammed Siraj completing the group.