Published: Jan 06, 2026, 10:22 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 06, 2026, 10:23 PM (IST)
New Zealand captain Michael Bracewell has said it would be “silly to underestimate†Indian batting icons Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, backing the senior duo to continue playing and feature in next year’s ODI World Cup.
Kohli and Rohit, who are now single-format players for India, will return to action in the three-match ODI series against New Zealand, starting Sunday in Vadodara. The second and third ODIs will be played on January 14 in Rajkot and January 18 in Indore.
Speaking to the media on the sidelines of the New Zealand Cricket Golf Day at the Willingdon Sports Club, Bracewell praised the Indian stars and said there is no reason for them to step away from the game.
“I’d like to see them (Rohit and Virat) play in the World Cup. They’re obviously still playing very good cricket so there’s no reason to stop,” Bracewell told the media.
“They’re both playing beautifully, so why not? Their records speak for themselves, both individually and as a team. They’ve been involved in some great Indian sides and led that side with the bat. You’d be silly to underestimate them, that’s for sure,” he added.
Bracewell will captain New Zealand in the ODI series, with several key players missing from the squad, including Mitchell Santner, Tom Latham, and Rachin Ravindra.
Acknowledging the challenge of replacing experienced players, Bracewell said the team will rely on collective effort.
“It’s a tricky one. Whenever you’re missing players of say, Mitch Santner’s calibre, you’re always going to be struggling to replace them. So, you’re asking guys to come in and do their role as best as they can,” he said.
“You’re never going to be able to replace a guy like that. But if everyone mucks in and does their bit, then hopefully we can all work together and achieve great things on this tour,” Bracewell added.
With the T20 World Cup just over a month away, Bracewell stressed that the ODI series still holds major importance for New Zealand’s preparation.
“You have to be where your feet are and and take care of what’s in front of you. We’ve obviously got an important one-day series coming up against India,” he said.
“One-day cricket has a lot of different skill-sets involved in it. You have to be able to bat for long periods of time and then apply pressure. We’re gonna spend a little bit of time here leading into the World Cup so, that’s very valuable for us as a team and individually to get used to the conditions,” the 34-year-old added.
New Zealand all-rounder Kyle Jamieson spoke about the presence of new and young players in the touring squad.
“We have a couple of new quick bowlers, Michael Rae had a couple of Tests against the West Indies,” Jamieson said.
“Kristian Clarke is young up-and-coming all-rounder, he’s (captain) got some talent and we’ve got Jayden Lennox as well, (a) left-arm spinner. So he has a few sort of fresh faces… guys that have played only a handful of games as well.”
Jamieson believes spending extended time in India before the World Cup will give New Zealand an edge.
“For every team that lands in this country for the T20 World Cup, (they) want to win it and we’re no different,” he said.
“We’ve got a nice month here to try and prepare through the ODIs and the five-match T20I series and certainly we’ll be trying to put our best foot forward to do as well as we can.“
“We’ll be where our feet are and we’ll worry about the first three ODIs and the T20s afterwards and then move on to the challenge of the World Cup,” Jamieson added.
Meanwhile, TCM Sports MD Lokesh Sharma spoke about the collaboration with New Zealand Cricket during the Golf Day event.
“The New Zealand Cricket Golf Day brought together the right mix of people, conversations, and values. We are pleased to collaborate with NZC on a format that reflects their culture while strengthening relationships in an important market like India.â€
