Bhuvneshwar Kumar returns after nearly four years as India open in Christchurch

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is in line for his first India T20I since November 2022 as Shreyas Iyer's side open a five-match series against New Zealand at Hagley Oval on Thursday

India begin a long tour of New Zealand in Christchurch on Thursday with the first of five Twenty20 internationals, the opening leg of a programme that also carries a one-day series and two Tests. Shreyas Iyer leads the T20I side, with Mitchell Santner in charge of the hosts.

The squad India named on 6 October was close to the one that had just drawn 2-2 with West Indies at home, with one notable change. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was recalled after an absence the ICC put at nearly four years, the 36-year-old seamer having last played the format in November 2022.

New Zealand, meanwhile, go into the opener without three of the players they had planned to pick, among them Rachin Ravindra.

A recall built on swing

Bhuvneshwar has 90 T20I wickets from 87 matches at an average of 23.10, figures that leave him ten short of 100 in the format.

He has spent the intervening seasons in the IPL, taking 28 wickets at an economy of 7.95 for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in 2026, and the selectors have returned him to conditions in which the ball moves.

Iyer said the recall was about experience. Bhuvneshwar's recent IPL seasons, the captain said, showed he had "a very good idea of dominating this format".

India had been short of that experience after the IPL, Iyer added, with several new bowlers coming into the group.

Iyer in no hurry to move up

Asked where he would bat, Iyer said the order would stay fluid. "I can bat at any number. It depends on the situation," he said. "Whoever is in the team has to be flexible and be happy with the number you get."

He ruled himself out of a promotion. "So I do not foresee myself pushing to the top," he said, with Sanju Samson and Abhishek Sharma opening and Ishan Kishan batting at three.

Since taking the captaincy Iyer has made 590 runs in 21 innings at 34.70, striking at better than 152. He has 225 runs in 13 T20Is against New Zealand.

Sooryavanshi told to wait

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has travelled with the squad but will not play the opener. "It's not like he can walk in right now, because our openers are scoring consistently," Iyer said.

"He is very young, he has more years to get opportunities," the captain added, saying the weeks in New Zealand would give the teenager "a fair idea how to play on these particular wickets".

Iyer said a talent like Sooryavanshi "should always be happy around the dressing room", and that he would be better prepared the next time he was picked in these conditions.

New Zealand's injury list

Ravindra dislocated his right shoulder on 16 September while attempting a diving catch during a promotional shoot in Auckland. Assessments found no major structural damage, but his rehabilitation was put at about six weeks and New Zealand hope to have him back for the one-day leg that begins on 4 November.

Mark Chapman and Zak Foulkes were ruled out on 9 October with a hamstring problem and a hip flexor problem respectively, and Josh Clarkson and Blair Tickner were called in. Ben Sears was not considered while recovering from an ankle injury.

Santner's squad does bring back Adam Milne, selected for the first time in more than a year, and the all-rounder Michael Bracewell. Both missed the 2026 T20 World Cup through injury.

What the record says

India have played 12 men's T20 internationals in New Zealand, winning five, losing four and tying three. Rohit Sharma is the leading run-scorer on those tours with 236, and Shardul Thakur the leading wicket-taker with eight.

The T20Is are the first of three legs. The one-day matches begin in Auckland on 4 November, and the Test series starts at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on 19 November.

The second T20I follows at Hagley Oval on 24 October, before the series moves on to Wellington, Auckland and Hamilton.

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