According to reports, Team India’s ODI and Test captain Shubman Gill is expected to return to domestic cricket in the upcoming Vijay Hazare Trophy matches for Punjab. Gill will get match practice ahead of India’s three-match ODI series against New Zealand, which is scheduled to begin on Sunday, January 11.
Many big Indian stars have returned in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli played in the tournament to fulfill BCCI’s rules on participation in domestic cricket. Rishabh Pant has also been a regular player for Delhi. The wicketkeeper-batsman will play the entire season for the team.
Shubman Gill is ready to make a comeback for Punjab in Vijay Hazare Trophy.
Shubman Gill is set to make a comeback in domestic cricket and play two Vijay Hazare Trophy matches for Punjab. He will play against Sikkim on January 3 and Goa on January 6 in Jaipur. Punjab is currently in fourth place in Group C with two wins from three matches.
Times of India journalist Gaurav Gupta wrote on
#shubhmangil , #arshdeepsingh Ready to feature for Punjab in their next 2 matches #VijayJaareTrophy2025 Match with Tom in Jaipur 🙂
– Gaurav Gupta (@toi_gauravG) 2 January 2026
After these games, Gill will leave the Punjab camp and join the Indian team in Baroda on 7-8 January. India will start the ODI series against New Zealand on January 11.
The withdrawal comes soon after Gill was left out of India’s T20I plans, including the New Zealand series and the 2026 T20 World Cup. With his focus now on ODIs and Tests, the Vijay Hazare Trophy gives him a good opportunity to improve his 50-over form ahead of international duty.
Shubman Gill dropped from India’s squad for T20 World Cup 2026
Shubman Gill was named in Punjab’s Vijay Hazare Trophy squad, but did not play the team’s first four matches. He was dropped from India’s squad for the New Zealand T20I and the 2026 T20 World Cup after poor form.
Gill returned to T20Is during the Asia Cup 2025 but struggled to make an impact, scoring 291 runs at an average of 24.25 in 15 innings. After this the selectors decided to keep him out of the T20I setup.
Gill was the top scorer in the five-match Test series against England. Based on that form, the selectors brought him back into the T20Is, where he replaced Sanju Samson at the top of the order, a move that was criticized at the time.
However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India recalled Samson back to the top order and left Gill out of the squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup.
India has to start the New Zealand series from January 11.
India will begin their home series against New Zealand with a three-match ODI series starting on January 11, but some key players are expected to sit out. Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya are likely to be rested under workload management.
Pandya recently returned from the quadriceps injury he suffered at the end of Asia Cup 2025, which kept him out of the Australia tour and the home ODI matches against South Africa. With the T20 World Cup in February, the team management wants to ensure that both Pandya and Bumrah are fully fit for the title defence.
As a result, the focus is on keeping him fresh, and he is more likely to feature in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand rather than the ODI leg of the tour.
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