IND vs NZ 2026: Shubman Gill banks on Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli's experience for ODI leg

India's ODI skipper Shubman Gill believes the vast experience of ace batters Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will help the Indian team to a great extent in India's three-match series against New Zealand. The three-match series is scheduled to commence on January 11.

Gill felt even he has and will benefit from Rohit and Kohli and their guidance for when things don't go as planned on the field. The top-order batter expressed gratitude on having two players of the calibre of Rohit and Kohli in the Indian side.

“One is one of the greatest openers of all time in ODIs [referring to Rohit] and Virat bhai is one of the greatest ODI batters ever, so definitely when you have these two people in your team, it makes your life a lot more easier. If you are in a tough situation, they always have been in those kind of situations many times in their life, so you can always go to them and see how they're thinking or what they'd do. This piece of information is very valuable for any captain,” Gill was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

The 26-year-old spoke on how tough it was to be on the sidelines after being injured and missing out on crucial game-time. However, he seemed optimistic for the upcoming series and was keen on stepping onto the field again.

“Obviously, never easy, especially you know, whenever you get injured, watching your team play and you feel like you are missing out on all those games, especially when you have just been named the captain. There are so many things that you want to do and when you set out, it's definitely very frustrating, but at the same time, you just have to focus on what are the things that you need to do in that moment and kind of build on that,” he added.

Gill missed out on the ODI and T20I series against the Proteas in addition to the second Test after getting injured during the first match at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The Punjab cricketer had to spend quite some time while rehabilitating from his neck-related injury, which was followed by a foot injury, further hampered by food poisoning.

India will play their ODIs in Vadodara, Rajkot, and Indore. Gill has not been selected to be a part of the T20I squad for the series against the Kiwis. He is also not a part of the squad for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Gill had an underwhelming 2025 as far as T20Is are concerned, which was enough for the BCCI to drop him.