Team India ODI and Test captain Shubman Gill is expected to return to domestic cricket in the upcoming round of Vijay Hazare Trophy matches for Punjab, according to reports. Gill will gain match practice before India’s three-match ODI series against New Zealand, which is set to begin on Sunday, January 11.
Several big Indian stars have returned to the ongoing Vijay Hazare Trophy. Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli have played in the tournament to meet the BCCI’s rule on domestic cricket participation. Rishabh Pant has also been a regular for Delhi. The wicketkeeper-batter will play the full season for the team.
Shubman Gill Set To Return For Punjab In Vijay Hazare Trophy
Shubman Gill is set to return to domestic cricket and play two Vijay Hazare Trophy matches for Punjab. He will feature against Sikkim on January 3 and Goa on January 6 in Jaipur. Punjab are currently fourth in Group C, with two wins from three matches.
“#ShubmanGill & #ArshdeepSingh are set to turn out for Punjab in their next 2 VijayHazareTrophy2025 matches in Jaipur from tom:),” Times of India journalist Gaurav Gupta wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).
#ShubmanGill & #ArshdeepSingh are set to turn out for Punjab in their next 2 #VijayHazareTrophy2025 matches in Jaipur from tom:)
— Gaurav Gupta (@toi_gauravG) January 2, 2026
After these games, Gill will leave the Punjab camp and join the Indian team in Baroda on January 7-8. India will begin their ODI series against New Zealand on January 11.
This return comes shortly 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 chance to sharpen his 50-over form before 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 T20Is and the 2026 T20 World Cup after a poor run of form.
Gill returned to T20Is during the Asia Cup 2025 but struggled to make an impact, scoring 291 runs in 15 innings at an average of 24.25. The selectors then decided to leave him out of the T20I setup.
Gill finished as the top scorer in the five-match Test series against England. On the back of that form, the selectors brought him back into T20Is, where he replaced Sanju Samson at the top of the order, a move that drew criticism at the time.
However, the Board of Control for Cricket in India again recalled Samson to the top order and left Gill out of the squad for the 2026 T20 World Cup.
India to Open New Zealand Series on January 11
India will open their home series against New Zealand with three ODIs starting on January 11, but some key players are expected to sit out. Jasprit Bumrah and Hardik Pandya are likely to be rested as part of workload management.
Pandya has only recently returned from a quadriceps injury suffered late in the Asia Cup 2025, which kept him out of the Australia tour and the home ODIs against South Africa. With the T20 World Cup in February, the team management wants to ensure both Pandya and Bumrah are fully fit for the title defence.
As a result, the focus is on keeping them fresh, and they are more likely to feature in the five-match T20I series against New Zealand rather than the ODI leg of the tour.
Also read: “You were truly special to me” – Shubman Gill’s New Year message ahead of T20 World Cup 2026
