Time for a shakeup? Selection calls face Gambhir after India defeat Auckland

So far, Gautam Gambhir has backed the players he believes can deliver for India in the T20Is. But an 87-run defeat in the fourth T20I in Auckland could force the head coach to make tactical changes for the fifth and final game against New Zealand in Hamilton on Sunday.India have already taken an unassailable 3-1 lead, but the 2024 and 2026 T20 World Cup champions will not want to end the series with back-to-back defeats after winning the first three matches.One of the players under pressure is Sanju Samson. The opener, one of India’s heroes from the 2026 T20 World Cup triumph, continues to enjoy strong support from the team management, but his returns in this series have been mixed: 67, 14, 18 and 4.There are also growing calls for the return of 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who made 4 and 45 off 19 balls in his two appearances in the series. His entertaining opening stand of 133 runs with Abhishek Sharma helped India chase down 199 in the third T20I with six wickets in hand. A short break can help Samson reset and come back stronger, as he has done several times in his career. Another big concern is captain Shreyas Iyer’s form. India beat the West Indies and New Zealand under him in the recent T20I series, but his own returns have been modest. After scoring his maiden T20I hundred against West Indies, Iyer went on to score 40, 1, 16, 22, 42, 7, 5 and 22 in his next eight innings.Before the criticism mounts, Iyer needs a sizeable score to justify his elevation as India’s T20I captain after three years away from the format at the international level. India’s all-rounders Naman Dhir and Nitish Kumar Reddy have contributed with late batting but their bowling remains a problem. Nitish was taken for 32 runs in one through the rampaging Glenn Phillips in the fourth T20I.However, India’s biggest bowling concern is the decline of Axar Patel as a wicket-taking option with run control. In the four matches of this series, Axar has taken three wickets at an average of 52.66 and an economy rate of 10.53. Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s much-celebrated comeback was also stunning. The veteran seamer took just one wicket in three matches, conceding 139 runs at an economy rate of 11.58.India relied heavily on Arshdeep Singh who became the fastest to score 150 T20I wickets in his 103rd match. He is the only Indian bowler with an economy rate of under 10 in this series, going at 9.31.India must find a way to bring in Kuldeep Yadav or Varun Chakravarthy, both of whom are yet to play in the series. Kuldeep’s left-arm wrist spin or Varun’s arcane spin could bolster the attack, but India may be reluctant to drop Dhir given his finishing ability.Glenn Phillips, who dominated the series, remains New Zealand’s biggest threat. In four matches, he scored 276 runs at an average of 92.00 and a strike rate of 189.04, with two fifties and a hundred. His 107 off 49 balls in the fourth T20I powered New Zealand to 259 for four and he will be looking forward to finishing the T20I series with another big haul. It may be a dead rubber, but New Zealand will be determined to win the final round before both teams advance to the five-match ODI series starting on November 4 in Auckland.Live, Sony, 12.30pm