Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Included In India's Playing XI vs New Zealand But Gets New Batting Position

Vaibhav Sooryavanshi on Saturday finally made a return to India's playing XI. After playing for India in the semi-final and final of the 2026 Asian Games, the youngster warmed the bench during the five-match T20I series against West Indies. He also sat out the first T20I against New Zealand. Just when it seemed that the teenager would continue to remain on the sidelines, Ishan Kishan was ruled out of the second game against the Blackcaps due to injury, prompting the Indian team management to make space for the 15-year-old.

India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted to bowl first against New Zealand in the second T20I at Hagley Oval, Christchurch. While talking about the team changes, the skipper revealed that Sooryavanshi would bat at the No. 3 position.

"Ishan is injured, so Vaibhav comes in for him. He is going to bat at number three," said Iyer.

The India skipper further revealed that Prince Yadav replaced Mayank Yadav as the second change in the playing XI.

"Prince comes in for Mayank, which is just a tactical change," Iyer said.

Meanwhile, New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner said, "They (India) are a very good team, and I think we missed the mark slightly (in the first T20I). That comes from the way they approach their game. It was a great game of cricket in the end. Losing in the last over is disappointing, but there were obviously many positives. We need to execute the small details better and see what happens."

Talking about the team changes, Santner said, "(Jacob) Duffy comes in for (Adam) Milne. With the number of games we have coming up, not just T20s but one-day internationals as well, there will be some rotation among the senior players, especially with a lot of Test cricket coming up. It is nothing to do with performance; it is just a bit of rotation, and we will see what Duffy can do tonight."

India (Playing XI): Sanju Samson (w), Abhishek Sharma, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh, Prince Yadav.

New Zealand (Playing XI): Finn Allen, Tim Seifert (w), Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Bevon Jacobs, Michael Bracewell, Mitchell Santner (c), Nathan Smith, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson.

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