After India suffered their first-ever home ODI series defeat to New Zealand, former India cricketer Ravichandran Ashwin said the team’s response under pressure seemed “a bit flat.”
Speaking on his YouTube channel Ash Ki Baat, Ravichandran Ashwin said that the ODI series loss to New Zealand from January 2026 will soon be forgotten as focus shifts to the T20 World Cup starting on February 7 and the IPL, which begins at the end of March.
“Everything will be forgotten now. There is the T20 World Cup and the IPL now. So, if the environment is there, things will go accordingly. We all know this. But if the T20 World Cup does not go well and people do not perform in the IPL too, there will be pressure on them. But if everything goes well, this series will be forgotten. In my books, New Zealand won the series 5-0,” Ashwin said.
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Ashwin noted that even if the home side fielded second-string teams, they should still be capable of winning matches. He said his concern is not about the players’ skills but about how the team handled pressure. From his point of view, India did not respond strongly and lacked intensity.
“I thought if India even plays their B or C teams, they can beat sides. I am a little worried now that this has nothing to do with the team’s quality. Always, when the team has been put under pressure, the Indian team has found ways in the past and has shown the habit. I do not think we put them under pressure. We played very soft cricket,” he concluded.
In the third and final ODI, New Zealand batted first and scored 337/8. India started disappointingly and lost their four wickets for just 71 runs. Virat Kohli scored 124, Nitish Kumar Reddy made 53, and Harshit Rana scored 52 to help India come back in the third ODI. But New Zealand took key wickets at the right time and won the match by 41 runs, taking the series.
The home team struggled in the second ODI and lost by seven wickets, as New Zealand chased down 285 with 15 balls left.
This series win was historic for New Zealand, as it was their first ODI series victory in India. It came just over a year after New Zealand had also beaten India 3-0 in a Test series at home in 2024, which had been India’s first Test series loss at home in 12 years.
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