India Playing XI 1st T20: India vs New Zealand 1st T20 match will be played on Wednesday, January 21 at VCA Stadium, Nagpur. Before that, captain Suryakumar Yadav has given a big update on the playing eleven of Team India. Actually, Tilak Verma will not be playing this T20 match due to injury, hence number-3 is vacant. Suryakumar’s statement indicated that Shreyas Iyer could be considered for batting at number 5.

Tilak Verma had to undergo abdominal surgery, due to which he was ruled out of the first 3 matches of the T20 series against New Zealand. In his place, Shreyas Iyer got a place in the Indian squad for the first three matches.

Who will get the place of Tilak Verma?

In the press conference held before the first T20 match, captain Suryakumar Yadav said, “Ishan Kishan will bat at number 3 because he is a part of our T20 World Cup team. He was selected first in the squad, so it is our responsibility to give him the first chance. Ishan is a part of the World Cup team, so he deserves to get a chance before Shreyas.

Captain Suryakumar said that if we were talking about fourth and fifth order batsman, then perhaps other names (Shreyas Iyer) could have been considered, but in the absence of Tilak Verma, Ishan Kishan seems to be the best option for number-3.

Suryakumar Yadav himself has been quite successful at the third position in T20 matches. On the question of batting at number 3 himself, Surya said that he wants to keep himself ready for any order in batting.

Indian squad for New Zealand T20 series: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Axar Patel (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakraborty, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper) and Ravi Bishnoi.

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The 2026 T20 World Cup will be played from 7 February to 8 March, hosted by India and Sri Lanka. Before that, the Indian team will face the challenge of New Zealand. New Zealand team has defeated India 2-1 in the ODI series, now it is the turn of the T20 series. This will be the last test of Team India before the World Cup and Indian players will also want to finalize their preparations.

This is the first time that New Zealand has defeated Team India in an ODI series in India. But under the captaincy of Suryakumar Yadav, India’s T20 team has not lost any series till now. Now it will be interesting to see whether the Indian team is able to maintain the good rhythm just before the World Cup or not. See here the complete schedule of India-New Zealand T20 series.

Complete schedule of India-New Zealand T20 series

The India and New Zealand T20 series will be played from January 21-January 31. The New Zealand team has come to India and defeated Team India in the T20 series. He will have a chance to do so for the second time in 2026.

• 1st T20I – India vs New Zealand – Nagpur
• 2nd T20 match – India vs New Zealand – Raipur
• 3rd T20 Match – India vs New Zealand – Guwahati
• 4th T20 Match – India vs New Zealand – Visakhapatnam
• 5th T20I – India vs New Zealand – Thiruvananthapuram

So far 25 T20 matches have been played between India and New Zealand. In these, Team India has won 14 times, while New Zealand has won 10 times. There was no result in one of their matches. From the year 2020 till now, the Kiwi team has been successful in defeating the Indian team only twice in T20 matches. Both the teams have come face to face 11 times in India, out of which India has won 7 times and New Zealand has won 4 times.

India’s squad: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer (first three T20s), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dubey, Axar Patel (vice-captain), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakraborty, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper), Ravi Bishnoi.

New Zealand squad: Mitchell Santner (captain), Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway (wk), Jacob Duffy, Jack Foulkes, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Bevan Jacobs, Rachin Ravindra, Tim Robinson, Daryl Mitchell, James Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Ish Sodhi

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