IND vs NZ: India Choose to Bowl, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Replaces Injured Ishan Kishan
Brief By Newsbrief / 12:52 PM on 24 Oct 2026
India won the toss and elected to bowl against New Zealand in the second T20 International, with captain Shreyas Iyer confirming two changes to the playing XI.
Young batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has been included in place of Ishan Kishan, who has been ruled out due to a groin injury. Prince Yadav replaces Mayank Yadav in India's other change. New Zealand have brought in Jacob Duffy for Adam Milne.
India will look to maintain their scoring momentum after securing a record chase in the series opener. Sooryavanshi's inclusion had been anticipated after batting coach Sitanshu Kotak indicated that the youngster was a strong contender if Kishan was unavailable.
The match also marks a milestone for Indian cricket, as India become only the second team to play 300 men's T20 Internationals, after Pakistan, who have played 304. New Zealand are third on the list with 269 matches, followed by the West Indies with 260.
India's playing XI includes Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Sooryavanshi, Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Arshdeep Singh and Prince Yadav.