India, Jan. 11 -- India's first ODI of 2026 had barely started when selection became the talking point. With A T20 World Cup around the corner and the 2027 ODI World Cup already on the horizon, every combination now gets read as a message.

Former India A captain Priyan Panchal ensured this one did. "Don't get me wrong...I like Washi and Harshit as players. Even Prasidh, for that matter," he posted on X, before adding Axar Patel, Mohammed Shami, and Arshdeep Singh, "miss the cut...It's unjustifiable after a point."

The backdrop was India's XI for the first ODI against New Zealand in Vadodara: Shubman Gill, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, a...