3 big reasons why India lost first home ODI series against New Zealand
New Zealand scripted history by winning their first-ever away ODI series against India.
The Indian Cricket Team made a shocking start to 2026 by suffering a huge setback against New Zealand in their first international assignment. The Shubman Gill & Co. lost the three-match ODI series against the Black Caps, despite starting the tournament on a winning note.
With a crucial half-century (93) by Virat Kohli, India crushed the visitors in the opening game by four wickets. However, Michael Bracewell & Co. made a wonderful comeback in the second game, winning by seven wickets like a walk in the park with Daryl Mitchell’s century.
The stakes were high in the third game as it was a series decider. Despite winning the toss and opting to bowl first, India lost the match to suffer their first-ever ODI series defeat at home against the Kiwis. Kohli executed wonderful efforts in the mammoth 338-run target with his century.
However, his impeccable batting show eventually went in vain as the Men in Blue lost by 41 runs after getting bowled out for 296 runs. Below are three major reasons why the Men in Blue lost their first-ever home ODI series against New Zealand.
3. Poor pace attack
Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, and Arshdeep Singh were four pacers in India’s bowling unit, with the latter featuring only in the last game. Indian pacers completely failed to dominate the Black Caps across three games, struggling to grab crucial breakthroughs.
Except for Harshit Rana (6 wickets), the other pacers could not get more than three scalps in their kitties. They also completely struggled against Daryl Mitchell, who hammered two back-to-back centuries in the last two matches to play a pivotal role in the team’s series victory.
2. Lack of teamwork in batting
Although some Indian batsmen displayed brilliant batting performances in this series, they failed in terms of teamwork. For instance, openers Rohit Sharma and Shubman Gill could only cross the 50-run stand once across three games.
The middle-order batters failed to go big in the last two matches. In the series decider, Virat Kohli got no support from fellow teammates in the mammoth chase, as key top and middle-order batters got out cheaply.
Batters like Gill (23), Rohit (11), Shreyas Iyer (3), and KL Rahul (1) completely failed with their batting in the ultimate clash.
1. Dismal spin attack
Due to the presence of spin-friendly stadiums in India, spinners always play a crucial role in any format. In the campaign against New Zealand, Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Washington Sundar are the three spinners the Indian team picked.
Sundar’s ouster after the opening game due to injury was a big blow for the hosts. Moreover, while Kuldeep got just one wicket each in every match, Ravindra Jadeja remained wicketless across the series. With an economy rate of 7.28 and 6.13, respectively, Kuldeep and Jadeja were quite expensive in the series.
Who won the IND vs NZ ODI series 2026?
New Zealand won the three-match series 2-1.
Who was the Player of the Series in India vs New Zealand ODIs?
Daryl Mitchell was Player of the Series in India vs New Zealand ODIs.
Who won the third ODI between India and New Zealand?
New Zealand won the third ODI by 41 runs.
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Vikas Singh Derek is a core cricket-lover since childhood and has always followed the sport both in his personal and professional life. He started his school life by watching cricket at home with family. Later, he played cricket on the field at local clubs during college. After his Master's in Journalism from Mumbai, he followed his passion by covering cricket news across various digital media. Since 2015, he has been an aspiring sports journalist and cricket content writer with over 50K+ articles.