 "Arshdeep Singh replaced Ishan Kishan in the only change made by the Indian team for the fourth T20I against New Zealand in Visakhapatnam. AP")
India shored up their pace department for the fourth T20I against New Zealand in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday, bringing in left-arm quick Arshdeep Singh with Ishan Kishan missing out due to a fitness issue. India captain Suryakumar Yadav, who opted to field after winning the toss for the third game running, added that vice-captain Axar Patel remains sidelined after failing to recover from a finger injury that he had suffered in the series opener in Nagpur.
LIVE | India vs New Zealand, 4th T20I in Visakhapatnam
Surya, however, wasn’t concerned about the Indian batting department missing out on a key contributor in the top-order, with wicketkeeper-batter Kishan having scored 112 runs in three outings so far, batting at No 3 on each occasion, including a blistering 76 in the second game in Raipur.
“Arshdeep comes in for Ishan Kishan, who picked up a niggle in the last game. Axar Patel still needs a bit more time, so hopefully we’ll see him in the next game. The batters will need to take a bit more responsibility, but at the same time not shy away from playing with fearless intent. We’ve got five good bowling options today, so we’ll see how it goes,” ‘SKY’ said during the toss.
Black Caps bring Foulkes back in place of Jamieson
New Zealand too made just one change to their playing XI, with Zak Foulkes coming in for fellow paceman Kyle Jamieson, with express pacer Lockie Ferguson still sidelined due to a calf injury that he had picked up last month. Captain Mitchell Santner later added during the toss that top-order batter Finn Allen will be linking up with the squad soon ahead of the T20 World Cup.
India have already clinched the five-match series, having gained an unassailable 3-0 lead after chasing down a modest 154-run target with eight wickets and 10 overs to spare, and will be setting their sights on a whitewash from here.
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View AllIndia vs New Zealand, 4th T20I in Visakhapatnam, Playing XIs
India: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(wk), Suryakumar Yadav(c), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah
New Zealand: Tim Seifert(wk), Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner(c), Zakary Foulkes, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Jacob Duffy