Shubman Gill is also a notable absentee.
India and New Zealand are going head-to-head for five T20Is in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup 2026 next month. Apart from Shubman Gill missing the squad, some big names have missed the playing XI tonight. They include Harshit Rana and Kuldeep Yadav.
Both bowlers were part of all three games in the recent ODI series. Harshit Rana took six wickets, while Kuldeep Yadav took one wicket in each game. But coming to the T20I series, both are dropped to keep team balance.
Jasprit Bumrah has returned to action with the Men in Blue, meaning either Arshdeep Singh or Harshit Rana had to sit out. With Bumrah and Arshdeep, India also has pace options in Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube. Thus, India doesn’t need a fifth pace option for the 20-over game.
Harshit’s returns in his last T20I were a tad bit disappointing. He played one of the games against South Africa in December, taking two wickets but giving away runs at 8.5 RPO.
Coming to the spin department, Axar Patel and Varun Chakaravarthy donned the jersey. Abhishek Sharma can also bowl a couple of overs, while Rinku Singh has also been rolling his arm in the nets. The poor returns in the ODI tour may have led to Kuldeep’s snub in the shorter format of the series.
Kuldeep Yadav also featured in one of the SA T20Is, picking two wickets but conceding runs at six RPO.
Overall, India have made multiple tactical decisions keep the T20 World Cup 2026 in mind. One major change was that Shubman Gill was not included in the India squad. Axar Patel will handle the vice-captaincy duties in the absence of the Test and ODI captain.
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As for the news from the centre, Mitch Santner won the toss and put New Zealand on the field first. The action for the 1st IND vs NZ T20I will unfold at the Vidarbha Cricket Association Stadium in Nagpur.
Suryakumar Yadav & Co. would look to add 20-30 more runs to the expected total, keeping the dew factor in mind for the second half of the match.
India: Sanju Samson (w), Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.
New Zealand: Tim Robinson, Devon Conway (w), Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner (c), Kristian Clarke, Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, and Jacob Duffy.
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