Mohammed Shami ignored again as pacer misses India vs New Zealand series

Mohammed Shami was once again ignored by the selectors as the Bengal pacer missed out on a place in the Indian squad for the New Zealand ODI series. The 15-member squad was announced by the BCCI on Saturday 3. with Mohammed Siraj returning to the team.

Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya were rested for the ODI against the Blackcaps, meaning India needed someone experienced to lead the attack. Shami was hoping to make a comeback during the New Zealand series after doing a lot of work during the domestic season for Bengal. The 35-year-old picked 20 wickets in four Ranji Trophy matches during the 2025-26 campaign before taking part in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy and the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy.

Shami took 16 wickets in seven matches at an average of 14.93 despite Bengal having a disappointing SMAT campaign. In nine matches in the VHT, the pacer has nine wickets in five matches and has helped Bengal win three of the four matches played so far.

Shami last played for India during their victorious Champions Trophy 2025 campaign where he was joint top wicket-taker with nine scalps. Since then, Shami has been out of the Indian team picture, missing the England tour, Australia’s white-ball tour and the matches against South Africa at home.

Before the selection, which took place on Saturday, Shami’s camp expressed confidence that the pacer will be looked at as an option for three games against the Blackcaps. India instead opted to get Siraj as the leader with Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna and Arshdeep Singh making up the rest of the pace battery.

The first match of the series is played on January 11 in Vadodara.

INDIA SQUAD FOR NEW ZEALAND ODI SERIES

Shubman Gill (C), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Shreyas Iyer, Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd. Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal.

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Published on:

January 3, 2026