IND vs NZ T20: Why Kishan’s comeback and SKY’s form matter as India begin T20I series vs New Zealand

India will have little time to wallow over their 1-2 ODI series defeat against New Zealand – their first against the Black Caps at home – with the five-match T20I series against the same team getting underway in Nagpur on Wednesday. The ODI series might have had the hype of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli, the latter living up to that hype with a couple of superb knocks including a valiant 124 in Indore.

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And given the fact that they will be playing only a handful of 50-over games in the build-up to the 2027 ICC World Cup, every match certainly does count and helps the team management paint a clearer picture of what their ideal combination should be.

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The T20I series, however, is a lot more crucial for the Men in Blue at the moment, for it is India’s final assignment in the 20-over format before they enter the T20 World Cup – which they co-host along with Sri Lanka – as the defending champions.

And given the fact that India’s squad for this assignment was initially the same as the ‘final 15’ for the World Cup, with a couple of last-minute injuries forcing the selectors to bring in replacements, the upcoming five-match T20I series against New Zealand essentially becomes a dress rehearsal for the mega event.

Ahead of the series opener in Nagpur on Wednesday, we take a look at some of the key talking points surrounding the Indian squad:

Comeback man Kishan at No 3 

India captain Suryakumar had confirmed wicketkeeper-batter Ishan Kishan as Tilak Varma's replacement in the playing XI for this series, with senior batter Shreyas Iyer being a back-up option for now keeping India’s T20 World Cup squad in mind, adding that he will be batting at one-down.

Kishan has not played international cricket since the T20I series against Australia in late 2023, and forced his way into India’s plans for the T20 World Cup with a brilliant run in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy, where he led from the front and helped Jharkhand win their maiden title.

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And the team management will be keen to cash in on that rich vein of form heading into the T20 World Cup, hence giving him as many opportunities against the Black Caps as possible.

“Ishan will bat at number 3 because he is a part of our T20 World Cup team and he was picked in the squad first so it’s our responsibility to give him a chance,” Suryakumar told reporters in Nagpur on the eve of the first T20I.

“Since he (Ishan) has been picked for World T20, he deserves to play ahead (of Shreyas). Had it been a question of batting slots Nos 4 or 5, it would have been a different question altogether. Unfortunately, Tilak isn’t there so Ishan is our best bet,” he added.

Surya under pressure for a big score

Both Surya and his former deputy Shubman Gill had been going through a lean patch with the bat in recent months, with the former having collected just 218 runs in 2025 at an average and strike rate of 13.62 and 123.16 respectively.

‘SKY’ had made it virtually impossible for the selectors to drop him ahead of India’s World Cup title defence in the 20-over format thanks to his success as captain. Gill, however, wasn’t as lucky, and was dumped from India’s plans for the New Zealand T20Is as well as the World Cup.

Surya is aware of the pressure that he faces currently, and will need a couple of big knocks in this series. The 35-year-old Mumbai Indians star, however also maintained that his first priority will always be to ensure that his team wins at the end of the day.

“I’ve been out of runs. But I can’t change my identity. I have decided to keep doing what I have been doing in the last three or four years so that has given me a lot of success.

“If the performance comes, I’ll take it, if it doesn’t, it’s back to the drawing board. I’m still batting in the nets the way I always have,” Surya told reporters in the pre-match press conference.

Spotlight on Bumrah and Pandya

One of India’s key takeaways from their ODI series defeat against a New Zealand side missing several key stars was the manner in which their bowling unit failed to keep the Kiwi batters – especially Daryl Mitchell – in check across the three games.

The Kiwis, after all, had posted 300-plus totals every time they walked out to bat first, and had reduced a chase of 285 to a cakewalk in Rajkot, completing a seven-wicket victory with more than two overs to spare.

Jasprit Bumrah had been rested for the one-day leg of New Zealand’s tour keeping his workload management in mind, and the Indian attack – led by Mohammed Siraj in his absence – certainly appeared to struggle. The team management, thus, will be hopeful of a much better performance with the ball now that their premier pacer is back.

Let’s also not forget star all-rounder Hardik Pandya’s return to action and the impact that it could have on the Men in Blue’s fortunes. Pandya has not been cleared to bowl 10 overs in an innings by the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence just yet, but remains a key wicket-taking option for captain Surya in T20Is, especially in the powerplay where he forms an ideal pairing with Bumrah.

Will Rana fit into the crowded middle order? 

Bumrah and Pandya’s return thus will make it extremely difficult for the team management to slot Harshit Rana into the XI despite his excellent run with bat as well as with ball in the ODIs against New Zealand.

Rana had broken into the Indian team in 2024 primarily as a pacer but has improved his batting skills by leaps and bounds since then, smashing his maiden fifty for India against the Black Caps in Indore, where he also had collected three wickets.

It will, after all, be difficult for Rana to find a place in what is a crowded middle and lower order after Pandya and Bumrah’s return to action. Spin-bowling all-rounder Axar Patel returns to the role of vice-captain, which had briefly gone to Gill in recent months, and thus cannot be dropped from the XI. And India will also be tempted to pick two wrist spinners in Varun Chakravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav keeping the conditions in India in mind.

And even if they are to pick a second seam-bowling all-rounder after Pandya, India do have the option of Shivam Dube, who is a lot more explosive with the bat.