NEW DELHI: India captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and elected to field against New Zealand in the fourth T20I at the ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday.Having already sealed the five-match series 3-0 with victories in the opening three games, India headed into the contest with momentum firmly on their side.
“We’re going to bowl first. It looks like a good wicket, and we’ll get a chance to practise here later. There was a lot of dew last night and today it’s a little humid as well, so we feel that in the second innings the ball will come onto the bat nicely. I think the important thing is to repeat the good habits we’ve built over the past year, not just in this series. We want to keep doing the good things we’ve been doing, learn from the last game, and go out there, enjoy ourselves, play the format the way it’s meant to be played, and entertain the people who’ve come here. It’s a beautiful ground and a lovely crowd here. Hopefully the boys are charged up and we have a good, entertaining night,” Suryakumar said at the toss.“Arshdeep comes in for Ishan Kishan, who picked up a niggle in the last game. Axar Patel still needs a bit more time, so hopefully we’ll see him in the next game. The batters will need to take a bit more responsibility, but at the same time not shy away from playing with fearless intent. We’ve got five good bowling options today, so we’ll see how it goes,” he added.Kishan has been in fine touch during the series and played an important role in helping India secure an unassailable lead. He is currently the fourth-highest run-scorer in the contest, having amassed 112 runs from three T20Is at a striking rate of 224.00 and an average of 37.33.After managing just eight runs in the opening match, the left-hander bounced back with a scintillating 32-ball 76 in the second T20I as India chased down a 209-run target in only 15.2 overs. He followed it up with a brisk 28 off 13 deliveries in the third game, setting the tone for another successful chase of 154, which was completed in 15 overs.Kishan also enjoyed a memorable Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy 2025/26 season with Jharkhand, guiding the side to their maiden SMAT title. Prior to his return to the national setup, he had last featured in a T20I in 2023 against Australia.Teams:New Zealand (Playing XI): Tim Seifert(w), Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Mark Chapman, Daryl Mitchell, Mitchell Santner(c), Zakary Foulkes, Matt Henry, Ish Sodhi, Jacob DuffyIndia (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(w), Suryakumar Yadav(c), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Harshit Rana, Ravi Bishnoi, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah
