Anshul Kamboj vs Gurnoor Brar – Who should India pick in their playing XI for NZ vs IND 2026 1st ODI?

India open the five-match ODI series against New Zealand at Eden Park on Wednesday, with Shubman Gill captaining a squad that has lost most of its frontline pace attack. Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya are not part of the ODI squad, so Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh lead the attack.

Prasidh Krishna was ruled out of the series with a hamstring injury, and Aaqib Nabi, originally picked only for the fourth and fifth ODIs, was added for the first three games by the selection committee.

Assuming that Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh take up the main pacer slots despite their recent workload, the team management are left deciding the candidate for the third seamer in the playing XI. The remaining four new quicks (Gurnoor Brar, Anshul Kamboj, Aaqib Nabi and Yash Thakur, who joins for the last two games) share only 11 ODIs between them. Nabi, capped once, sits behind the likes of Anshul Kamboj and Gurnoor Brar in the pecking order.

It is far from a straight shootout between two bowlers. Whoever takes the No. 8 or No. 9 slot shapes how deep India bat and whether Kuldeep Yadav keeps his place. On that note, let us look at who India should pick between Anshul Kamboj and Gurnoor Brar for the first ODI against New Zealand.

#1 Stats

Gurnoor Brar has had a streaky start to his international career. Nine ODIs have brought 14 wickets at 41.50, a best of 3/27 and an economy of 7.17 across 81 overs. He took six wickets in his first two ODIs and repeatedly touched 145 kph, but the returns have thinned since then.

Only once in those nine games has he finished with an economy under six, and on flat pitches he has struggled to build pressure. The red ball tells a better story. Brar’s 10 for 145 against Sri Lanka A in Galle in July, including 6 for 68 in the second innings, is the best match haul of his first-class career, and he began this Ranji season with 2 for 85 against Assam and 1 for 34 against Chhattisgarh.

Anshul Kamboj’s international sample is a single match, a poor spell of 0/82 from nine overs on debut against West Indies at New Chandigarh on October 3. His List A record is far stronger, 56 wickets from 35 games at 22.41 with an economy of 4.58, and he began the Ranji season with 4 for 56 and 2 for 18 in Haryana’s win over Himachal Pradesh.

#2 What do they bring to the table?

Gurnoor Brar offers something nobody else in the squad does. A 6-foot-5 frame, a high release, and the ability to hit the deck at 145 kph, another dimension alongside Siraj’s swing and length and Arshdeep’s left-arm death bowling.

Anshul Kamboj, on the other hand, is the control option, who brings the opportunity to maximise the new ball with his ability to move it and stick to tight areas, a skill he has shown for Haryana and Chennai Super Kings (CSK). That eases the pressure on Shubman Gill, who can allot more overs to death-overs specialists like Siraj and Arshdeep towards the end of the innings.

The venue plays a role too. India conceded 259 in the fourth T20I against New Zealand, where mishits cleared the rope. Brar’s extra pace, once the new-ball movement dies down, could work against him there, because New Zealand’s batters will happily use it. Kamboj’s fuller, stump-to-stump method is a double-edged sword in return: it keeps batters in check, but on a pitch with nothing in it they can swing through the line.

#3 Anshul Kamboj’s handy batting vs Gurnoor Brar’s hit-the-deck ability

Anshul Kamboj’s handy batting and India’s need for a batting option at No. 8 might skew the debate completely in his favor. He made 17 from nine balls with two sixes on ODI debut, and his 60 off 52 balls in the Duleep Trophy quarterfinal in August showed the same intent. As a No. 8 who can add 20 late runs, he is a lucrative option for an India side that loses Nitish Kumar Reddy after the first ODI.

Gurnoor Brar’s case rests entirely on the ball hitting the bat hard, and picking him changes the shape of the team. He can hit a few, but he does not have the first-class record to hold down No. 8.

With Nitish available for the first ODI only, India can field Rohit Sharma, Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Nitish, Axar Patel, three seamers and Kuldeep. Kamboj makes that combination work, because a No. 8 who bowls also keeps a frontline wristspinner in the XI.

If India go with Gurnoor Brar, their batting is stuck at No. 7, something the current management dislikes. That forces a choice between Kuldeep as a luxury at eight or an extra batter such as Naman Dhir, who brings balance but leaves India without an attacking, wicket-taking option in the middle order.

Conclusion

Anshul Kamboj’s advantages are control, a new-ball spell that takes load off Siraj and Arshdeep, and the batting depth that lets India pick Kuldeep alongside three seamers. The disadvantages are just as clear, the lack of pace, his only ODI went for 82, and his fuller length can disappear when there is no movement.

Gurnoor Brar offers the opposite: a 145 kph operator who can make the ball climb, strong red-ball form, and the ability to take wickets in the middle overs rather than hold an end. The cost is an economy of 7.17, a release point that sits back of a length on Eden Park’s short straight boundaries, and a tail that starts at No. 8. Ideally, Anshul Kamboj should start given India’s need for batting depth and the rare new ball advantage they have as opposed to home.

There is also a possibility that both may feature since Mohammed Siraj and Arshdeep Singh have both featured in recent matches, and their workload will also be a factor behind the decision.

Edited by Gokul Nair