Rishabh Pant's ODI spot under threat as India look to reward Ishan Kishan's stellar domestic show: Report

With New Zealand's ODI series approaching, India prioritizes players performing in domestic cricket. Pant faces exclusion, with Ishan Kishan as the frontrunner.

India’s first ODI assignment at home in 2026 is arriving with an uncomfortable truth: this isn’t a give everyone a look window anymore. With New Zealand visiting for three matches from January 11 to 18, selection is now being judged through the simplest lens possible: who is delivering in domestic cricket right now, and who fits the roles India want locked in. The squad is expected later this week, and the big call could come in the wicketkeeper slot.

Ishan Kishan plays a shot during the third unofficial ODI cricket match between India A and South Africa A. (PTI)

A report from India Today claims that Rishabh Pant is likely to miss out on selection for the ODI series, with Ishan Kishan the leading contender to step in. Shubman Gill will expectably return as the ODI captain; however, the availability of India’s ODI vice-captain, Shreyas Iyer, remains uncertain as he has not been fully cleared yet.

Pant’s ODI trail has gone cold for a while. His last ODI appearance came on August 7, 2024, against Sri Lanka in Colombo. More recently, he was part of the ODI squad in South Africa but didn’t play a game, a telling sign in a format where India have increasingly leaned on clearly defined roles rather than rotation names.

The domestic season hasn’t delivered a loud counter-argument either. Rishabh Pant is currently captaining Delhi in the Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26, and his early returns have been uneven, including scores of 5 and 70 in his first two matches. In a middle-order spot where India often want stability around the wicketkeeper-batter, inconsistency tends to get punished quickly.

Ishan Kishan, on the other hand, has forced his way back into the conversation with a run of form that’s been hard to ignore. His last ODI was on October 11, 2023, against Afghanistan in the ODI World Cup 2023 in Delhi, meaning this would be a return after more than two years. Since then, he has built a domestic case across formats. He finished as the top run-getter in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025, playing a central role as Jharkhand won their maiden title, and ended the tournament with a century in the final against Haryana in Pune. He then carried the momentum into the Vijay Hazare Trophy, hammering a 33-ball hundred against Karnataka, while grabbing up the record for the second fastest List A century by an Indian.

The wider leadership picture is also being reshaped. India’s ODI side in South Africa was led by KL Rahul, with Gill and Iyer unavailable, and India won the series 2-1. With Gill expected back and Iyer still not fully cleared, the New Zealand series now looks like a reset, not just for the XI, but for the pecking order heading into a packed year.