3 Moments that cost India ODI series vs New Zealand

Published - 19 Jan 2026, 23:22 IST | Updated - 19 Jan 2026, 23:25 IST

India lost an ODI series on home soil against New Zealand for the first time. The intense series finished 1-2 in favour of Michael Bracewell's men. The Men in Blue won the first match, but the Kiwis bounced back commendably to bag the next two encounters and eventually made the series theirs.

During the three-match assignment, there were some excellent individual performances from the Indian team. However, the Shubman Gill-led side failed to do well as a unit. Let's discuss in detail what went wrong for the Men in Blue.

When Rohit Sharma played well against Australia and South Africa, India looked like a different team. However, against New Zealand, the Mumbai batter didn't have a memorable outing. In three innings, he scored just 61 runs at an average of 20.33 and a strike rate of 76.25.

Shubman Gill did score two half-centuries, but had his fellow opener also been in form, India would have been able to get a head start, making the job of the middle-order batters much easier.