After their first-ever ODI series loss to New Zealand at home, Gautam Gambhir‘s Team India have a lot of amends to make, with the five-match T20I series starting in Nagpur on Wednesday. Under the leadership of Suryakumar Yadav, the team would be hoping to make a statement in the IND vs NZ T20 series just before the T20 World Cup 2026, and the series could be a perfect dress rehearsal for all the players.
India have a couple of injury concerns coming into the series, and the BCCI has come up with replacements too. Shreyas Iyer & Ravi Bishnoi could be seen in a few matches, but largely, it would be about getting the team combination right ahead of the big tournament. So, InsideSport takes a look at the Predicted India playing XI for the 1st T20I vs NZ.
Sanju Samson at the top
After demoting Sanju Samson in the batting order and then getting in Jitesh Sharma for a few matches, maybe the management has realised that it is in the best interest of the team that the Kerala batter opens along with Abhishek Sharma. So, those two spots look sealed as of now. Sanju opened in his last innings vs SA, and scored 37 there.
Tough No. 3 choice
It gets a little tough here. Both Shreyas Iyer and Ishan Kishan have been out of the India T20I team for a while now. And both are in the squad. Shreyas, in fact, has been playing ODIs after his injury layoff, while Ishan has done enough in the domestic circuit. But since the southpaw has been included in the T20 World Cup squad, he might just get the nod. In 32 matches so far, he has scored 796 runs at an average of 25. With Suryakumar Yadav confirming that Ishan will get a go in the IND vs NZ T20s, he is set for No 3 role. Iyer will have to wait as he is not in the T20 WC squad.
“Ishan will play at No. 3. We picked him first, and he is in the World Cup team as well. So he deserves to play. He hasn’t played for us for a very long time. When we have picked him, I think he deserves to play. If it’s about No. 4 or 5, then it would have been different. Unfortunately, Tilak is not there, so Ishan is our best bet,” Suryakumar said at the pre-match press conference.
Hardik Pandya back, Shivam Dube plays too
Fast-bowling all-rounders are a great asset to any team and India has two in this format, for this series. Hardik Pandya comes back after his injury and Dube has been a regular in the side. Both play, and give added balance to the team. Though it will be interesting to see, if Pandya can bowl full throttle or not.
Varun Chakravarthy vs Kuldeep Yadav
Both excellent bowlers, but if one has to make a choice on current form, in the opening match Chakravarthy could get the nod. Kuldeep was tackled well by the Kiwi batters, who attacked him, stepped down and hit him all across the park. That could be playing on skipper Surya and coach Gambhir’s mind. VC might just inch ahead.
Predicted India Playing XI
Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Axar Patel, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Varun Chakaravarthy.
