Prasidh Krishna has been ruled out of India's five-match ODI series against New Zealand after failing to clear a fitness test, with the selectors adding Auqib Nabi to the squad for the first three matches as his replacement. The announcement resolves a conditional selection that had hung over India's squad since it was first named, with the series opener still on track for November 4 at Eden Park, Auckland.
Krishna's fitness has been a recurring story through India's recent white-ball calendar. He was ruled out of the dead-rubber third ODI against West Indies in early October after picking up a hamstring injury in Guwahati, and he has been managing the same issue ever since. He was named in India's ODI squad for this New Zealand series only on a fitness-pending basis, and that conditional selection has now resolved against him, with the team management saying he needs more time to build up his bowling workload before he is ready for competitive cricket again.
Nabi was already with the squad in New Zealand, having originally been pencilled in mainly for the Test leg of the tour later this month. He made his India debut last month in the second ODI against West Indies, and his elevation into the group for the first three matches against New Zealand gives him a far bigger opportunity than originally planned — a direct chance to establish himself in India's ODI pace pool rather than wait for the red-ball assignment he was first called up for.
Krishna remains part of India's touring party and is expected to link up with the India A squad for their four-day fixture against New Zealand A, subject to clearing a return-to-play assessment — effectively a fresh route back into contention for the Test series rather than this ODI leg. For the series opener itself, India's pace attack for the first three matches now firms up around Nabi's inclusion, with the final XI still to be confirmed closer to the toss at Eden Park.
Auqib Nabi's inclusion makes him a speculative differential pick for the opener given the uncertainty around how much he plays, while Krishna's absence shifts India's pace-bowling fantasy value more firmly onto whichever senior quicks are confirmed in the XI; it is worth checking the toss-time team news given how fluid this squad slot has been.
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Squad and injury details in this article are verified against same-day and freshly re-checked BCCI and ICC reporting as of November 2, 2026; India's playing XI for the November 4 opener had not been confirmed at the time of writing.
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