For the second time in the last 15 months, New Zealand have secured a bilateral series win against India on Indian soil, a 3-0 Test sweep in November 2023 followed by a 2-1 ODI victory last week. Both defeats came under Gautam Gambhir’s tenure as head coach, inevitably raising questions around India’s decision-making and selection calls. But as India take on New Zealand in the T20I series starting Wednesday (January 21), the narrative should move away from revenge or payback. Instead, this series presents Gambhir with an opportunity to play the long game and settle lingering questions about his final T20 World Cup XI.
India announced their World Cup squad weeks ago and, on paper, appear far clearer about their combination than most of the other 19 participating teams. However, late changes and injury concerns leave a few uncertainties. There could hardly be a better stage than a home series to iron those out, as India chase history by attempting to become the first team to successfully defend a T20 World Cup title.
Sanju Samson: back where he belongs?
Samson was the natural choice to open after Rohit Sharma vacated the slot following India’s T20 World Cup triumph in June 2024, and the wicketkeeper-batter repaid the faith in emphatic fashion. During his run at the top, Samson smashed three centuries and amassed 454 runs in 14 innings at a staggering strike rate of 181.6. Among all Indian openers with a minimum of 500 runs in T20Is, only Abhishek Sharma has scored faster.
Yet, despite the returns, Samson found himself paying the price for the selectors’ long-term planning around Shubman Gill following the latter’s heroics on the England Test tour. Pushed down the order, Samson even delivered a fifty in unfamiliar middle-order duties, with the management initially insisting he remained in their plans. That stance, however, changed midway through the Australia series last October, when Samson was dropped from the XI altogether.
After the Gill experiment failed to take off, the selectors pulled the plug and turned back to Samson at the top. The past few months have tested Samson emotionally, but the New Zealand series now offers him a chance to put the turbulence behind him and rediscover the opening form he left unfinished.
A timely opening for Ishan Kishan at No. 3
With Tilak Varma, a certainty for India’s T20 World Cup XI, ruled out of the first three matches due to injury, a window has opened at No. 3 to test the bench strength. While Shreyas Iyer has been named as the replacement, it would be prudent for the management to use this phase to give Ishan Kishan an extended look as a backup option.
Despite an inconsistent IPL season last year, the left-hander forced his way into World Cup contention with a thumping Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign, capped by a match-winning century in the final that led unfancied Jharkhand to the title. Although his selection was largely driven by a late shift in the BCCI’s thinking to include a wicketkeeper who bats at the top, the No. 3 slot could prove a natural fit for Kishan.
With Tilak expected back for the final two matches, this series presents an ideal opportunity to assess Kishan ahead of Iyer, who, despite a stellar IPL season (604 runs at a strike rate of 175.07), does not feature in India’s World Cup plans.
One last chance for Suryakumar to find his form
Suryakumar, India’s most destructive T20 batter, has remained outwardly unfazed despite enduring the worst slump of his international career. But for the team management, the numbers are increasingly hard to ignore. Across his last 22 international innings, Suryakumar has failed to register a single fifty, averaging just 12.84 during the period.
In search of rhythm, he returned to domestic cricket after his last T20I assignment, but the move brought little relief. Representing Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy, he scored 24 and 15, extending a lean run that now spans formats.
While one innings can often be enough to spark a revival, Suryakumar now has just five matches against New Zealand to engineer that turnaround, and to head into the T20 World Cup with some measure of assurance about his form.
Could Rinku Singh get a look-in?
Besides Ishan, Rinku too made the cut for the World Cup in a last-minute addition, with India adding more firepower to their batting. The left-hander (207.75) has the third-best strike rate among all Indian batters (minimum 200 runs) in T20I cricket in the death, and unlike the other two, Suryakumar (228.49) and Rohit Sharma (217.24), Rinku is a specialist at the slog overs, with an average of 38.28.
However, with Gill slotted in the top order and Samson pushed to middle order duties, Rinku struggled to find a spot in the XI over the last few months. With India now going back to their old ploy, the toss-up will be between Rinku and Shivam Dube, who, albeit having had a modest run with the bat since the last World Cup, have proven to be quite handy with the bowl.
With Gambhir having an affinity towards stacking more all-rounders in the XI, Dube could get the nudge ahead of Rinku, but the former also gets slotted to bat as low as No. 8, where Harshit Rana proved his mettle following his recent fifty against New Zealand in the third ODI on Sunday. Hence, Rinku’s selection could be down to the kind of bowling combination India opt for based on conditions.
