India skipper Shubman Gill jumped to the defence of Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav after their below-par showing during the 2-1 ODI series loss to New Zealand at home.

Both spinners failed to make a mark with the ball and Jadeja’s batting form also came under the scanner in the three-match series.

While Jadeja went wicketless throughout the series, Kuldeep managed to claim three scalps but it came at an economy rate of 7.28 and an average of 60.66.

With Jadeja, the issue also remained with his batting as he returned with scores of 4, 27 and 12. Given that he was playing the all-rounder's role, a lot was expected with the bat from the veteran campaigner.

Even during the series-deciding loss in Indore, Jadeja threw away his wicket at a crucial point when Virat Kohli was trying his best to drag India past the winning line.

Speaking at the post-match presser, Gill said Jadeja was looking in good touch with the bat but acknowledged that most of the Indian batters were unable to make their starts count.

"Firstly, I think about Jaddu bhai. I don’t know how many matches he has played over the past couple of years, but in terms of his batting, he was looking in good touch. That said, I think all of us batters, especially, were not able to convert the starts we got. Whenever you play in India, you usually see high-scoring matches, and if batters get starts but don’t convert them — at least two of them — it always becomes difficult," Gill told reporters.

Coming to Kuldeep, the left-arm wrist-spinner couldn’t contain the Kiwi batters. In particular, Daryl Mitchell was severe on him in the last two ODIs.

Gill didn’t read too much into Kuldeep’s failure as the captain said, "Sometimes these things happen. Kuldeep has been bowling really well over the past couple of years and has always been a strike bowler for us. It’s unfortunate that he wasn’t able to pick as many wickets as he would have liked, but in these kinds of series, you learn and you grow."

India and New Zealand will now square off in a five-match T20I series, starting January 21 in Nagpur. The T20I series will be the final dress rehearsal for the T20 World Cup 2026, slated to be held in India and Sri Lanka from February 7 to March 8.