Auckland: India's pace plan for New Zealand has been redrawn before the first one-day international has been bowled. Prasidh Krishna, India's leading wicket-taker in ODIs this year, will miss the five-match series starting November 4, and Jammu and Kashmir seamer Auqib Nabi has been called up in his place.
Prasidh has not played since he pulled up with a hamstring injury midway through the second ODI against West Indies on September 30. He is scheduled to undergo match simulation and fitness tests at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on November 1 and 2, which rules him out of the start of the series.
A BCCI source said the team management and the national selection committee want him fully ready for the two Tests that follow, where his availability matters more. The first Test begins in Wellington on November 19, the second in Christchurch on November 27, with India in the bottom half of the World Test Championship 2025-27 table.
Prasidh has taken 16 wickets in nine ODIs in 2026 and has become a fixture in the 50-over attack. His absence leaves the pace duties to a less experienced group.
Nabi, 27, is already in New Zealand with the India A squad for three four-day games against New Zealand A. He took three wickets in each innings in the first match at Lincoln and made 38 off 63 balls in the second innings, a game that ended in a draw with India A one wicket short when bad light stopped play. He made his ODI debut against West Indies in Guwahati in the second match of the home series.
India have already sealed the T20I series, taking an unassailable 3-0 lead with a six-wicket win in the third match at Wellington. The fourth T20I is at Eden Park.
New Zealand's problems are just as pressing. Lockie Ferguson has been ruled out of the remaining T20Is after scans confirmed a low-grade tear in his right calf, sustained during the second T20I at Hagley Oval. Matt Fisher replaces him for the fourth and fifth matches. Matt Henry was also assessed after discomfort following the same game and has a low-grade tear needing one to two weeks.
"We're gutted for Lockie and Matt," New Zealand head coach Rob Walter said. "Injuries are part and parcel of international cricket but it doesn't make it any easier when you have to miss games." He added that he was hopeful both would be available for the ODIs.
Shubman Gill, who will captain India in the first three ODIs before Shreyas Iyer takes over for the last two, has joined the squad in Auckland.