Shreyas Iyer makes a return to the Indian T20I for the first time in over 2 years. Shreyas' return to the set up was confirmed by BCCI late on Friday following the current injury crisis. India are without stalwart Tilak Varma for the first three games, who is undergoing recovery from a surgery.
Alongside Varma, India are also without Washington Sundar. Sundar featured in the IND vs NZ 1st T20I, but suffered a side strain that ruled him out of the remainder of the series. Ravi Bishnoi meanwhile has been roped in as replacement.
India's updated T20I squad: Suryakumar Yadav (C), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (WK), Shreyas Iyer (first three T20Is), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel (VC), Rinku Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Kuldeep Yadav, Varun Chakaravarthy, Ishan Kishan (WK), Ravi Bishnoi
Shreyas last played in the shortest format of the game for India in December 2023. Since then, he has led the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to the title in 2024. Shreyas Iyer followed it up with another finals appearance with Punjab Kings last year. He scored 604 runs at a strike rate of 175.07.
With Tilak Varma nursing an injury and Riyan Parag also injured, Shreyas has forced his way back into Team India's plans. Should he feature and put a good performance, he could force his way back into India's T20 World Cup plans.
The first three T20Is of the IND vs NZ series will be played on January 21, 23 and 25. India can submit changes to their T20 world Cup squad to ICC by January 31. In that regard, it is a crucial squad change announcement by the BCCI.
