3 New Zealand players who can be threat to India in 1st ODI

Matt Henry. (Photo Source: Twitter/PCB)

Eden Park in Auckland hosts the first ODI of the five-match India tour of New Zealand 2026/27 on November 4, 2026. The Men in Blue arrive as a strong unit, yet the Kiwis have shown they are more than capable of matching them in this format.

New Zealand won the three-match ODI series in India in January 2026 by 2-1, which was their first-ever ODI series victory on Indian soil. However, India will be eager to level the ledger on home soil for the Kiwis, and Eden Park’s record of 42 wins for the chasing side against 33 for the team batting first adds another layer of intrigue to the contest.

3. Jacob Duffy

Jacob Duffy bowled brilliantly in the fourth T20I and finished with figures of 4/23 in four overs. Incidentally, that game was played at Eden Park. Duffy has played 24 ODIs so far, picking up 40 wickets at an average of 25.30 and a strike rate of 25.90. The right-arm seamer will have conditions in his favour and he will be quite a handful for India’s top-order inside the powerplay. He can also extract bounce to surprise the batters every now and then.

In the January 2026 ODI series in India, Duffy was New Zealand’s leading wicket-taker with 6 wickets across the three matches. Alongside Matt Henry, he is expected to form a potent new-ball pairing if the Eden Park surface offers assistance to the seamers.

2. Matt Henry

Matt Henry is a 34-year-old right-arm seam bowler known for moving the ball in both directions with the new ball and maintaining tight lines, and Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma and the rest of the Indian top order will need to negotiate him carefully in the powerplay.

However, Henry’s availability through the T20I leg of this tour was affected by an injury, and his match sharpness heading into the ODI series will be worth monitoring. He was a significant figure in the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-final between India and New Zealand, a match that remains one of the most memorable encounters between these two sides.

1. Daryl Mitchell

Daryl Mitchell has been a persistent thorn in India’s side across ODI cricket. Against India specifically, Mitchell has accumulated 938 runs in 16 matches at a remarkable average of 72.15 and a strike rate of 108.81, figures that underline just how dominant he has been in this fixture.

In the January 2026 ODI series in India, Mitchell was the highest run-scorer with 352 runs and was named Player of the Series. During the preceding T20I series against India last month, he batted at a strike rate of approximately 175, demonstrating that his aggressive intent carries across formats.

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