4, 2026. (AP) India bowler Gurnoor Brar celebrates the wicket of New Zealand’s Tim Seifert during the one day cricket international in Auckland, New Zealand, Wednesday, Nov.
On the eve of India’s opening ODI against New Zealand at the Eden Park, Auckland, the Indian skipper laid bare the blueprint behind India’s recent pace-bowling auditions, pegging tall, hit-the-deck quicks as a core priority with an eye on the 2027 World Cup in South Africa. “I have played in the middle overs a lot, and I have seen that if those bowlers can hit the right areas — obviously hitting the right areas is the key — if tall fast bowlers can hit the right areas, it is a lot more difficult to score runs than someone who is bowling at 130-135. One big concern for India in the lead-up to the 2027 World Cup is the fitness of their key seam-bowling allrounder Hardik Pandya , who has been out of action since IPL 2026 thanks to a series of injuries and niggles.
You have to be really on top of your game to be able to score against someone who is 140-plus and who is 6’1″, 6’2″, 6’3″. There is a lot more risk when you are trying to score freely against that kind of bowler,” Gill said. Calling Hardik’s skill set difficult to replace, Gill said the team had remained in touch with him and hoped he would return to domestic cricket before making his comeback to the national side. “Firstly, he is a great player,” Gill stressed.
You have to be really precise with your shot-making. “The qualities that he brings to the team, not many players in the world possess those qualities, to be able to have a fast-bowling allrounder who can bowl (in any phase) of the game, with the new ball, middle overs and death overs; and the kind of batting he has. Hopefully, we will see him back in the side soon.”
With the ODI World Cup and the World Test Championship final both scheduled for 2027, Gill felt India could have benefited from having their strongest available combinations for both formats in the ongoing tour. The captain, however, would have preferred a different arrangement for the New Zealand tour, with the ODI series sandwiched between the T20Is and two Tests. The tight turnaround means several members of the Test squad, including Gill, will miss the fourth and fifth ODIs. Jasprit Bumrah, meanwhile, has been rested for the entire ODI series.