The BCCI's senior selection committee on Tuesday announced India's 16-member T20I squad for the five-match series in New Zealand, handing a recall to veteran pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who last played a T20I in November 2022.
The 36-year-old seamer last represented India in the T20 World Cup semi-final against England at the Adelaide Oval in November 2022. He has forced his way back into the national set-up on the strength of two outstanding IPL campaigns for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, taking 45 wickets across the last two seasons, including 28 wickets in IPL 2026 at an economy of 7.95 during the franchise's successful title defence. Bhuvneshwar had recently been named captain of India's squad for the Hong Kong Sixes, but his inclusion in the T20I squad means he will miss that tournament.
The squad and the series
Shreyas Iyer will captain the side, with Tilak Varma as his deputy. The full squad: Shreyas Iyer (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma (vc), Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav.
The series will be played from October 22 to November 1 — opening with two matches at Christchurch's Hagley Oval on October 22 and 24, then Wellington on October 27, Auckland on October 30 and Hamilton on November 1. It will be followed by a five-match ODI series and a two-Test series, for which squads are yet to be announced.
Other selection calls
Mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy returns after recovering from the side strain that ruled him out after the Afghanistan T20I in Delhi and sidelined him from the one-off match against Japan and the Asian Games. He replaces Ravi Bishnoi. Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been rested from the T20Is, with workload management ahead of the ODI and Test legs in mind.
This is the first squad named after the exit of former chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar, with Pragyan Ojha serving as interim chair. The selectors also named a strong 15-member India 'A' squad for three multi-day matches against New Zealand 'A'.
Sources:
- Sportstar: India T20I squad to face New Zealand: Bhuvneshwar Kumar recalled to T20I side after four years
- Cricbuzz: India vs New Zealand: Bhuvneshwar Kumar returns to India's T20I squad
The 36-year-old seamer last represented India in the T20 World Cup semi-final against England at the Adelaide Oval in November 2022. He has forced his way back into the national set-up on the strength of two outstanding IPL campaigns for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, taking 45 wickets across the last two seasons, including 28 wickets in IPL 2026 at an economy of 7.95 during the franchise's successful title defence. Bhuvneshwar had recently been named captain of India's squad for the Hong Kong Sixes, but his inclusion in the T20I squad means he will miss that tournament.
The squad and the series
Shreyas Iyer will captain the side, with Tilak Varma as his deputy. The full squad: Shreyas Iyer (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma (vc), Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav.
The series will be played from October 22 to November 1 — opening with two matches at Christchurch's Hagley Oval on October 22 and 24, then Wellington on October 27, Auckland on October 30 and Hamilton on November 1. It will be followed by a five-match ODI series and a two-Test series, for which squads are yet to be announced.
Other selection calls
Mystery spinner Varun Chakaravarthy returns after recovering from the side strain that ruled him out after the Afghanistan T20I in Delhi and sidelined him from the one-off match against Japan and the Asian Games. He replaces Ravi Bishnoi. Pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah has been rested from the T20Is, with workload management ahead of the ODI and Test legs in mind.
This is the first squad named after the exit of former chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar, with Pragyan Ojha serving as interim chair. The selectors also named a strong 15-member India 'A' squad for three multi-day matches against New Zealand 'A'.
Sources:
- Sportstar: India T20I squad to face New Zealand: Bhuvneshwar Kumar recalled to T20I side after four years
- Cricbuzz: India vs New Zealand: Bhuvneshwar Kumar returns to India's T20I squad
