Auckland, Oct 29 — India, already 3-0 up in the five-match series, could hand game time to wrist-spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakaravarthy when they face New Zealand in the fourth T20I at Eden Park on Friday.
A sell-out crowd of nearly 40,000 is expected at Eden Park, which will break the record attendance for a bilateral series match in New Zealand. The previous best attendance record was of 36,523 set during the New Zealand men’s and women’s double header against India at the same venue in 2019.
Both Kuldeep and Varun have featured sporadically in recent months as the team management has stacked the side with batters down to number eight, an approach that has paid off in a series of high-scoring games.
Kuldeep, who played two matches in the home series against West Indies, hasn’t played a game in Wellington. If India prefers to sit out either Axar Patel or Naman Dhir, with the latter being in sparkling form, then Kuldeep or Varun could get their chance to play.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar, playing his first international series in four years, nailed yorkers at the death overs in Wellington but has leaked 139 runs off 72 balls. Prince Yadav has kept Mayank Yadav out for the last two games, and he might be persisted with by the Indian team management.
Ishan Kishan’s availability remains unclear after he missed two matches with an adductor strain. If he sits out again, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi will get another chance to play and become the perfect second fiddle alongside an in-form Abhishek Sharma.
New Zealand, without Matt Henry and now Lockie Ferguson, who has been ruled out of the series with a calf injury, have struggled to contain India’s top order, especially smashing a record 118 runs in the powerplay in Wellington. Captain Mitchell Santner has bowled well but received little support, and it's something which the Black Caps will want to change in Auckland, which is an unforgiving venue for bowlers.
According to CricViz, India have won 22 of their 34 T20Is against New Zealand, with 11 defeats and a tie. They have won five games in a row against the Black Caps and nine of their last 10 T20Is in the country, two of them via super overs.
India have already got their third straight T20I series win in New Zealand, who last beat them at home in Hamilton in 2019. Abhishek’s 35-ball hundred in Wellington was his fourth ton in T20Is and 11th century overall in all T20s, the most by an Indian men’s batter.
Since the start of 2025 in T20Is, Abhishek has hit 1,984 runs at an average of 35.4 and a strike rate of 200.6, with 13 fifties and 3 hundreds. Moreover, Abhishek has struck at 228.3 against Jacob Duffy and 338.1 against Kyle Jamieson.
Santner has dismissed Sanju Samson four times in seven innings, while Indian batters have swept just 6.6 per cent of balls against spin in 2026. Axar has removed Glenn Phillips five times, and Kuldeep has dismissed him four times in five innings, which makes his case for inclusion in the playing eleven stronger.
When: October 30, 2026, 12:30 PM
Where: Eden Park, Auckland
Where to watch: The match will be shown live on the Sony Sports Network channels on TV, and live streaming is available on the Sony LIV app and website.
Squads
India: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Kumar Kushagra.
New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (captain), Devon Conway (wk), Tim Seifert, Finn Allen, Bevon Jacobs, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Michael Bracewell, Josh Clarkson, Nathan Smith, Adam Milne, Jacob Duffy, Matt Fisher and Blair Tickner.