“You can’t bench Suryavanshi now” – Former batter’s huge statement on India’s batting conundrum amid NZ vs IND 2026 T20Is

Former opener Aakash Chopra reckons that India must continue to open with Vaibhav Suryavanshi and Abhishek Sharma in the fourth T20I against New Zealand in Auckland. He also urged India to adopt a rotation policy going forward, keeping the 2028 T20 World Cup in mind.

India beat New Zealand by six wickets in Wellington in the third T20I to take an unassailable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. Abhishek (113 off 38) and Suryavanshi (45 off 19) added 133 for the opening wicket in 7.1 overs.

Speaking to Cricinfo ahead of the fourth T20I in Auckland, Chopra urged the Indian management to leave the opening pair from the last game untouched. He said:

“Well, Vaibhav opens. Abhishek Sharma continues to open. When World Cup is two years away, and there’s no imminent requirement to crystallize a team. These are a lot of T20s. Abhishek, Sanju Samson, Vaibhav, Ishan Kishan, just tell all of them the fact is that we have only three spaces. We’ll just keep rotating, irrespective of the form,

“So I feel that you can’t bench Suryavanshi now. Now, it has to be a toss up between Ishan and Sanju. One of the two should play. I mean, they will have to play. Both can play, but one of the two is what I’m saying, that whoever plays keeps. So I don’t know what the right answer is, to be very honest.”

Abhishek and Samson have formed a formidable opening pair in T20Is, with Kishan coming in at No. 3. However, Suryavanshi came into the picture as a top order option following a stellar IPL 2026 campaign.

Will Ishan Kishan replace Vaibhav Suryavanshi in 4th T20I?

Kishan missed the last two T20Is of the ongoing series against New Zealand due to a low-grade right adductor strain. However, he has resumed training in the nets ahead of the fourth T20I in Auckland on Friday.

With Kishan fit again, it remains to be seen whether he replaces Suryavanshi in India’s playing XI for the fourth T20I against the Black Caps. In Kishan’s absence, Suryavanshi scored four off eight in Christchurch and 45 off 19 in Wellington.

Edited by Renin Wilben Albert