Bhuvneshwar Kumar gets India recall as BCCI announces T20I squad for New Zealand series
Bhuvneshwar Kumar's commanding show in the last iteration of the Indian Premier League reaped him handsome dividends as the Swing King has been recalled to the national side for the upcoming T20Is against New Zealand.
Bhuvi will be returning to the international circuit after four long years as BCCI announced the T20I squad for their upcoming tour against New Zealand.
Kumar bagged 28 wickets in the 2026 IPL, finishing with his best-ever IPL figures in a season, being an instrumental force for RCB in their second title-winning run. He has has so far played 87 T20Is for India, claiming 90 wickets at an economy rate of 6.96.
Apart from Kumar's inclusion to the Indian side, Varun Chakaravarthy is also set to make a return, after he was sidelined against Afghanistan with a side strain. Chakravarty only returned from an injury in the series against Afghanistan but copped a side strain in the series opener and consequently missed the one-off T20I against Japan and the Asian Games.
Ravi Bishnoi, who was a part of India's squad for the West Indies series was axed while Hardik Pandya is still recovering from his shin injury that happened in September. Apart from them, the rest of the Indian side that is duking it out against the Islanders are a part of the T20I outfit against the Blackcaps.
India will be playing five T20Is against New Zealand starting from 22nd October.
India’s T20I Squad:
Shreyas Iyer [C], Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson [WK], Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan [WK], Tilak Varma [VC], Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav
