India cricket team captain Suryakumar Yadav has confirmed that Ishan Kishan will bat at number 3 in the IND vs NZ 1st T20I on Wednesday. The southpaw, is a part of India’s T20 World Cup 2026 squad, last played a T20I back in November 2023 following which he fell out of the favour of the selectors. India will be keen on giving game time to all members of their squad in the five-match series as it precedes the marquee tournament.
Ishan to return to T20Is, bat at number 3
Speaking at the pre-match press conference, captain SKY informed that Kishan will be batting at number 3. He claimed that the southpaw was a part of the T20 World Cup squad and hence he deserved to play. Kishan made his way into the T20I setup once again after leading Jharkhand to their maiden Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy title earlier in 2025 and putting up some impressive performances with the bat as well in domestic cricket.
“Ishan Kishan will play at No. 3. He is part of the World Cup squad and deserves to play,” Suryakumar said.
Kishan will have an important role to play while batting at number 3, especially in the absence of Tilak Varma. To date, Ishan has played 32 T20Is and has scored 796 runs, including six fifties. The IND vs NZ series is a golden opportunity for the southpaw to cement his place in the Indian squad as the back-up wicketkeeper-batter.
India squad for IND vs NZ T20Is
Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (VC), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Washington Sundar, Ishan Kishan (WK), Shreyas Iyer
Cricket
Ishan Kishan confirmed as India's number 3 for IND vs NZ 1st T20I, T20 World Cup 2026 the reason
