When the five-match Twenty20 International series against New Zealand begins in Nagpur on Wednesday, captain Suryakumar Yadav will want the offensive batter in him to step up and strengthen his leadership. This series will serve as a final dress rehearsal for India’s World Cup title defence in less than three weeks.
With a victory rate of almost 72% since Suryakumar took over as India’s T20 captain in 2024, the results have been incredibly impressive. For a long time, it covered the skipper’s miserable form with the willow, but that is no longer the case.
Over the past two years, the Indian T20 team has been playing on autopilot, with the odd loss here and there serving as minor setbacks for a formidable squad composed of elite IPL players who are fully aware of their roles.
But moving into the New Zealand series, Suryakumar will be under a lot of pressure to perform well at home in the face of expectations that India will be the first team to ever defend its title.
A Test series whitewash and the first-ever bilateral ODI series victory in India are just two of the many firsts New Zealand has accomplished in the last year.
However, under Suryakumar, India has been a different beast in T20Is, winning 18 of 25 matches. This is mostly because to Varun Chakravarthy’s brilliant performances in the middle overs of the opposing innings and Abhishek Sharma’s explosive starts.
After the 2024 T20 World Cup, New Zealand have won 13 of their 21 Twenty20 Internationals. The Kiwis are formidable opponents with players like Devon Conway, captain Mitchell Santner, world-class T20I seamer Jacob Duffy, and Glenn Phillips and Daryl Mitchell.
Additionally, it means that the reigning champions will have the opportunity to prepare for the T20 World Cup flawlessly. In this context, Suryakumar, the Indian captain, has been the weak point of a strong squad due to his poor form.
With just 218 runs from 19 games without a single fifty and a strike rate of more than 123, 2025 was undoubtedly his weakest season while playing for India. SKY lowered himself to No. 4 to give Tilak Varma a longer run at No. 3, which exacerbated the situation.
Bowlers from all over the world have discovered that he can be silenced with straight deliveries at hard lengths, and speculation over the condition of his right wrist has only made matters worse. Going into the T20 World Cup, SKY would not want to be a captain who is not performing to gradually lose the respect of the dressing room.
A player of Shreyas Iyer’s caliber, who has led three different teams to the IPL finals and won once, would have been an obvious option in a T20I setup in any other nation. Tilak Varma’s abdominal surgery has given Iyer, the finest batter against spinners in this Indian lineup, a fortunate break.
Surya Kumar will continue to bat at number four since Ishan Kishan, who is currently in red hot form, will bat at number three. During the pre-match press conference, the captain himself affirmed this.
Although Kishan is more of an enforcer during powerplay overs and won’t be useful beyond No. 3, he would be better off batting at that position for the captain’s personal benefit. Iyer may not be able to play in the starting lineup as a result. Kishan is a member of the World Cup team, so wasting him would not have been wise. Iyer will lose out since he is not part of the World Cup plan.
After some well-earned rest during the ODI series, pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah and all-rounder Hardik Pandya will also be back in the T20 series. With his abilities, Pandya balances the T20 team, and his presence allows the team management to play an additional specialist.
Varun Chakravarthy, the main “X” factor in this lineup who hasn’t played much against the Kiwis, will join them. With Kuldeep Yadav’s lackluster form, Varun’s four overs from 7th to 15th frequently alter the tide of a match, therefore the Tamil Nadu player would need to step up even more.
The series’ outcome will be determined by Varun’s duels with Mitchell and Phillips.
Since both Michael Bracewell and Adam Milne are recovering from injuries, New Zealand pacer bowling all-rounder Kristian Clarke, who took seven wickets in the three games in the most recent ODI series, including Virat Kohli twice, will remain stay the T20 series.
Teams (from):
India: Suryakumar Yadav (Captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (Wicketkeeper), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Rinku Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshit Rana
New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (Captain), Devon Conway, Bevon Jacobs, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Tim Robinson, Jimmy Neesham, Ish Sodi, Zak Foulkes, Mark Chapman, Michael Bracewell, Rachin Ravindra, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy, Kristian Clarke
