IND vs NZ: Positives aplenty for India as Suryakumar regains form, Kishan grabs his chances ahead of World Cup
The sky, admitted Suryakumar Yadav, hadn’t been blue. It is now.
The clouds have lifted. Just in time for the T20I World Cup.
Three half-centuries, the player-of-the-series award, and a thumping 4-1 win. Captain Suryakumar’s return to form is one of the several gains for the Men in Blue from the five-match T20I series against New Zealand, which concluded in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday night.
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No team would want to go into a big event like the World Cup with its captain in poor form, more so when the man has been the world’s best batter in the format for quite some time. He had come into the series without a fifty since October, 2024.
Of course, this mighty Indian batting line-up doesn’t depend on individuals. There is so much depth, and style, too.
Ishan Kishan underlined that depth, as he grabbed his chances with both his batting gloves. He has staked a claim for the keeping ones as well, following Sanju Samson’s total failure with the bat.
Kishan, who didn’t even have a BCCI central contract not so long ago, got to play four matches because of the injury to Tilak Varma. He has become a strong contender to open the innings alongside the terrific Abhishek Sharma. With a couple of blinders, the Punjab dasher reminded the World Cup bowlers what they could expect from his blade.
Rinku Singh showed in the first game of the series how effective he could be as the finisher. The series also saw the catches following him, and he didn’t mind that at all.
Both the seam-bowling all-rounders, Hardik Pandya and Shivam Dube, have looked good, too. Significantly, Dube’s 23-ball 65 came in the only game in which India’s batting failed to click. The two hard-hitting men bring balance to this team.
Axar Patel is also more than a capable T20I batter, and his left-arm spin produced three wickets here on his return from injury. The other spinning options, Varun Chakaravarthy and Kuldeep Yadav, have also had time enough overs.
Arshdeep Singh’s maiden five-wicket haul in T20Is could not have been timed better. That spell came in the final game of the series, as he became the first Indian to take 50 wickets in PowerPlay. He and the magnificent Jasprit Bumrah form a formidable duo.
The Indians should be pleased with the dress rehearsal that this series has been. The injuries to Washington Sundar and Tilak were among the few disappointments.
Published on Feb 01, 2026
