Left-arm seam Ashish Nehra replaces Praveen Kumar of India squad for first one-day international against New Zealand on Sunday, Board of Control Cricket in India (BCCI) said on Thursday.

Kumar will miss the first series of five games because of fever, secretary N. Srinivasan said the BCCI said in a statement.

India has appointed a second effective channel for the first two games with opener Gautam Gambhir captain there regularly after skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni and four frontline players were rested.