NEW DELHI: Skipper Suryakumar Yadav would want the attacking batter in him to step up and strengthen his leadership against New Zealand, when the five match T20I series begins on Wednesday, acting as a final rehearsal for India’s World Cup title defense which is less than three weeks away.

Since Suryakumar took charge as India’s T20 captain in 2024, the results have been remarkably good with a winning percentage of over 72 per cent. It covered up the skipper’s poor run with the bat for some time but that phase can no longer be ignored.

The Indian T20 side has almost been on cruise mode over the last two years with only the odd loss here and there for a strong unit full of quality IPL players who know their roles perfectly.

However, the pressure of playing at home with expectations that India become the first team to defend a World Cup title will sit heavily on Suryakumar’s shoulders as the New Zealand series begins.

New Zealand in the past one year have achieved several firsts including a Test series whitewash and their maiden bilateral ODI series win in India.

But in T20Is, India under Suryakumar have looked like a different side, winning 18 of their 25 matches mainly because of Abhishek Sharma’s explosive starts and Varun Chakravarthy’s tricky spells in the middle overs.

New Zealand have won 13 of their 21 T20Is since the 2024 T20 World Cup.

With Devon Conway, skipper Mitchell Santner, leading T20I seamer Jacob Duffy and the pair of Daryl Mitchell and Glenn Phillips in their squad, New Zealand look as strong an opponent as one could ask for.

It also means the defending champions will get the ideal build up for the World Cup.

Against this background, it is Suryakumar whose poor form remains the only weak point in an otherwise solid team.

Without doubt, 2025 has been his toughest year in India colors with just 218 runs from 19 matches without a single fifty and a strike rate a little over 123.

Things became harder when he pushed himself down to No.4 to give Tilak Varma a longer run at No.3.

Bowlers around the world have worked out that straight hard length balls can keep him quiet and talk around the condition of his right wrist has only added to the problem.

A captain who is not scoring slowly starts losing the dressing room and that is the last thing the Chembur born batter would want before the T20 World Cup.

Shreyas or Ishan?

In most countries, a player of Shreyas Iyer’s quality would walk straight into the T20I side, having taken three different franchises to IPL finals and winning one of them.

One of the best players of spin in this Indian team, Iyer has got his chance due to Tilak Varma’s abdominal surgery.

It is still not known if Tilak will be fit in time for the big event but Iyer at No.4 would allow Suryakumar to return to his preferred No.3 position.

But since Tilak is a left hander, Ishan Kishan who is in terrific form could also put his hand up.

Kishan is not very effective beyond No.3 as he is more of a powerplay hitter but for the captain’s own comfort, batting at that spot might suit him better.

Return of Hardik, Bumrah and Varun

The T20 series will also see the return of all rounder Hardik Pandya and pace leader Jasprit Bumrah after a short break during the ODI series.

Pandya adds balance to the side with his skills and his presence allows the team management to play an extra specialist.

They will also be joined by Varun Chakravarthy, the biggest X factor in this team whom the New Zealand batters have not faced much.

Varun’s four overs between the seventh and fifteenth often change the course of a game and with Kuldeep Yadav not in his best form, the spinner from Tamil Nadu will need to do even more.

His battles against Mitchell and Phillips could decide how the series shapes up.

For New Zealand, pace bowling all rounder Kristian Clarke who took seven wickets including dismissing Virat Kohli twice in the recent ODI series will stay on for the T20 leg as Michael Bracewell and Adam Milne are dealing with niggles.

Teams:

India: Suryakumar Yadav (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Varun Chakravarthy, Rinku Singh, Arshdeep Singh, Ravi Bishnoi, Harshit Rana.

New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (captain), Devon Conway, Bevon Jacobs, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Tim Robinson, Jimmy Neesham, Ish Sodi, Zak Foulkes, Mark Chapman, Michael Bracewell, Rachin Ravindra, Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy, Kristian Clarke.

Match Starts 7 pm

(With PTI Inputs)