India have left Kuldeep Yadav out of the playing XI for the fifth T20I against New Zealand at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, bringing Varun Chakaravarthy back into the side. The mystery spinner from Chennai returns after missing the third and fourth matches of the series, a decision that had sparked some surprise.
Kuldeep’s inclusion was understood to be part of a broader plan to allow him time to work on specific aspects of his game, with an eye on potential selection for the upcoming T20 World Cup rather than immediate match involvement. However, he failed to make the heads turn.
On the other hand, Chakaravarthy’s inclusion comes at a timely moment for India, as the hosts seem to get back to winning ways ahead of the T20 World Cup, slated to begin on February 7. His return is expected to add variety and control to the bowling unit as the hosts look to settle the playing XI, leading to the marquee event at hime.
India have also made two additional changes to the XI. Ishan Kishan is back after recovering from a niggle, while Axar Patel has also returned following a hand injury he picked up during the opening T20I of the series.
India opt to bat first
India chose to bat first in the fifth T20I, with captain Suryakumar Yadav explaining that heavy dew was expected later in the match. He said the decision was aimed at challenging the bowlers under tougher conditions, which prompted India to take first strike.
“We are going to bat first. We were here last night. There were a lot of dew. So we want to test our bowlers if we're good defending the total. It's a good wicket. We had a good session last night and the curator said it's going to play true for the next 40 overs,” Suryakumar said.
New Zealand (Playing XI): Tim Seifert (wk), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Bevon Jacobs, Mitchell Santner (c), Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy
India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah