SportsPosted at: Oct 30 2026 12:11PM


India bench explosive Sooryavanshi, bowl first against NZ

Auckland, Oct 30 (UNI) India left out teenage batting sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and elected to bowl after winning the toss against New Zealand in the fourth T20 International of the five-match series at Eden Park here on Friday.
The decision to leave out Vaibhav, who had made an explosive start in the previous match, emerged as a major talking point ahead of the contest, with India bringing in Ishan Kishan as his replacement.
India also brought in fast bowler Mayank Yadav in place of Bhuvneshwar Kumar as captain Shreyas Iyer opted to test his bowling attack under lights.
The changes come as India look to maintain their aggressive approach after an impressive performance in the preceding encounter. Iyer said the team wanted to continue with the same intent and positivity, while stressing the need to be ruthless.
"Everyone is in high spirits. Expecting bounce and seam movement. It's important to be ruthless," he said.
New Zealand made one change, bringing back Nathan Smith in place of Kyle Jamieson.
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner said the Eden Park surface offered extra bounce and could reward batsmen who managed to settle in.
"Looks like another good pitch. If you get a start, you can cash in," he said.
India XI: Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav, Prince Yadav.
New Zealand XI: Finn Allen, Tim Seifert (wk), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Bevon Jacobs, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Nathan Smith, Adam Milne, Jacob Duffy, Matthew Fisher.
UNI BDN
Tags: #India bench explosive Sooryavanshi# bowl first against NZ
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