Shreyas Iyer receives clearance to join Team India for home ODIs against New Zealand

MUMBAI: Indian middle-order batting star Shreyas Iyer has received clearance to join the Indian squad for the three-match ODI series against New Zealand starting from January 11 onwards, reported ESPNCricinfo on Thursday.

Earlier this month, while Shreyas was named in the ODI squad against New Zealand, it was mentioned that his participation would be subject to his fitness and clearance from the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru following recovery from a spleen injury sustained during the tour to Australia. Shreyas captained Mumbai in the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy (VHT), and with two games under his belt so far, he is looking strong for the Kiwi ODIs.

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Shreyas Iyer has been cleared to join the Indian team for the ODI series against New Zealand.

(Source: ESPN Cricinfo)#Cricket #ODI #ShreyasIyer pic.twitter.com/WiNtJ3jpXq

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Shreyas is currently India’s ODI vice-captain and had sustained a spleen injury while taking a brilliant diving catch during the third ODI in Sydney back in October. Following the match, he was rushed to the hospital with internal bleeding, and subsequent tests revealed he had suffered a spleen laceration. This injury caused him to miss the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy (SMAT) and the home ODIs against South Africa.

Ahead of the ODIs against New Zealand, Iyer has looked in good touch, posting knocks of 82 and 45 in the VHT so far, captaining Mumbai in the absence of Shardul Thakur, who has been ruled out of the tournament due to injury.

Most of Team India, scheduled to play the Kiwi ODIs, arrived in Vadodara for the first ODI on January 7, and the region will get to host its first men’s international match in 15 years on Saturday, with the Kotambi Stadium having already hosted women’s 50-over matches and Women’s Premier League (WPL).

Shreyas had a fine run in ODIs in 2025, with 496 runs in 11 matches at an average of 49.60 and a strike rate of over 89, including five fifties. With 243 runs in five matches, including two fifties, he was India’s top run-getter in their ICC Champions Trophy title-winning campaign. He is 83 runs shy of 3,000 ODI runs, with 2,917 runs in 73 matches and 67 innings at an average of 47.81, with five centuries and 23 fifties.

India ODI squad
Shubman Gill (capt), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wk), Shreyas Iyer (vice-capt), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohammed Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal. (ANI)