India made three changes to their playing XI for the fifth and final T20I against New Zealand at the Greenfield International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram on Saturday, January 31. India captain Suryakumar Yadav won the toss and elected to bat first with the intention of testing his bowlers in the dewy conditions in the second innings of the match.
The men in blue brought Ishan Kishan back into the playing eleven after he missed the fourth T20I due to an error. Apart from that, all-rounder Axar Patel and spinner Varun Chakravarthy also returned to the side as Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav and Ravi Bishnoi made way for the trio.
Explaining the reasons behind his decision to bat first, Suryakumar revealed that he wanted to test his bowlers in wet conditions later in the game and also confirmed the inclusion of local boy Sanju Samson in the squad.
“We fire first. We were here last night and there was a lot of dew, so we want to test ourselves. The groundsman says it will be true for 40 overs. Axar comes back, Ishan comes back and one more. Don’t worry, Thiruvananthapuram, Sanju Samson is playing tonight. We are waiting for him (Tilak),” we said, and we learned something the whole game forward. We almost learned something in the whole department. Suryakumar at the throw-in.
New Zealand made 4 changes
Meanwhile, New Zealand also made four changes to their playing XI for the final match, bringing in Finn Allen, Bevon Jacobs, Kyle Jamieson and Lockie Ferguson.
India (Playing XI): Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (w), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav (c), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah
New Zealand (Playing XI): Tim Seifert (w), Finn Allen, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Bevon Jacobs, Mitchell Santner (c), Kyle Jamieson, Ish Sodhi, Lockie Ferguson, Jacob Duffy
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Issued by:
Rishabh Beniwal
Published on:
January 31, 2026
