On Saturday, India was in Bengaluru for the fifth T20I against the West Indies, which ended in a no result. On Thursday, Shreyas Iyer’s team will take on New Zealand at Hagley Oval, Christchurch, which goes to show India’s hectic scheduling at the top level.
Team India have added an experienced bowler in Bhuvneshwar Kumar, after the swing master impressed one and all in IPL 2026. Kumar took 28 wickets in 16 matches of the tournament and played a key role in taking RCB to glory. The veteran will certainly get help in conducive New Zealand conditions, which are known to assist swing bowlers.
Earlier, India had failed to adapt to the English conditions and they had suffered T20I series losses against Ireland and England. Ergo, the Indian players will look to hit the ground running in challenging conditions.
Varun Chakravarthy has also returned to the T20I squad after recovering from his injury and he is going to be India’s first-choice spinner ahead of Kuldeep Yadav.
On the other hand, New Zealand will look to make the most of their own conditions. The Kiwis have a lot of quality in their squad and they would look to bring their A-game to the ground.
Head-to-head: Matches: 31, Won by India: 19, Won by New Zealand: 11, Tied: 1.
India’s T20I squad: Shreyas Iyer [c], Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson [wk], Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan [wk], Tilak Varma [vc], Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav
New Zealand T20I squad: Mitchell Santner (C), Finn Allen, Michael Bracewell, Josh Clarkson, Devon Conway, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Bevon Jacobs, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert, Nathan Smith, Blair Tickner
