Former cricketer Aakash Chopra has blind-ranked India's current T20I pacers during the ongoing tour of New Zealand. The Men in Blue recently clinched the five-match T20I series 3-2 and are currently leading the ODI series 2-0.

Notably, ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah was left out of the list. The first name mentioned was Mohammed Siraj, whom Chopra ranked sixth. Next up was Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) star Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who was placed seventh.

With Bumrah out of the picture, Chopra ranked Arshdeep Singh, who was recently traded to the Mumbai Indians (MI), at the top spot. Arshdeep is also India's highest wicket-taker in T20Is with 151 scalps. The next pacer on the list was Prince Yadav, whom Chopra ranked at number five, placing him above both Bhuvneshwar and Siraj. Following him was Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) star Harshit Rana at number four.

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) pacer Mayank Yadav took the third spot. During the T20I series against New Zealand, Mayank played two matches and picked up four wickets at an average of 22.00. Chopra then ranked Prasidh Krishna second and Yash Thakur eighth.

Aakash Chopra picks India's playing XI for NZ vs IND 2026 4th ODI

Meanwhile, Chopra has also predicted India's playing XI for the fourth ODI against New Zealand, which is set to take place on Friday, November 13, at Mount Maunganui. With Shubman Gill unavailable as he prepares for the upcoming Test series, Chopra picked Ishan Kishan to open the batting alongside Rohit Sharma.

He also included Ruturaj Gaikwad in the lineup, along with Axar Patel, and chose either Kuldeep Yadav or Mohammed Siraj for the spin-pace combination. Additionally, he named Auqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, and Arshdeep Singh as the three frontline pacers.

The Men in Blue will be looking to seal the ODI series with a win in the fourth game. They won the first match by five wickets and the second by four runs, while the third match was abandoned due to rain.They won the first match by five wickets and the second by four runs, while the third match was abandoned due to rain.