The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has confirmed that Ishan Kishan will miss the 3rd T20I against New Zealand on Tuesday, having missed the last match due to a low-grade right adductor strain. While the board named Kumar Kushagra as his replacement in the squad, the management picked Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to replace him in the playing XI, slotting him at the No. 3 spot. However, the teenage opener faltered, scoring only 4 runs off 8 balls before returning to the dressing room.
“Ishan Kishan is recovering well from his low-grade right adductor strain, which he sustained during the first T20I of the series against New Zealand. He is yet to regain match fitness and is ruled out of the third T20I to be played on October 27, 2026 in Wellington. The BCCI Medical Team is monitoring Ishan’s progress. Kumar Kushagra will continue to be with the team for the third T20I,” the BCCI said in a statement.
Update Ishan Kishan is recovering well from his low grade right adductor strain, which he sustained during the first T20I of the series against New Zealand. He is yet to regain match fitness and is ruled out of the third T20I to be played on October 27, 2026 in Wellington. The BCCI Medical Team is monitoring Ishan’s progress. Kumar Kushagra will continue to be with the team for the third T20I. #TeamIndia | #NZvIND
— BCCI (@BCCI) October 26, 2026
With Ishan set to miss the third T20I again, there’s been a huge discussion about what the team combination should be. Sooryavanshi, who has only played as an opener since the start of his senior career, looked like “fish out of water” at the No. 3 role in the absence of Ishan. Multiple former India cricketers like Ravichandran Ashwin and Murali Kartik urged the team management to play the teenage opener at the top, while making Sanju Samson fill the No. 3 void left by Kishan.
“He just found himself a little like a fish out of water. He kept going hard, kept going hard for the eight balls,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel. “It did not feel like he was ever timing the ball, and that is when you need a senior partner to walk down to him and say, ‘Calm down, just hang in there, look to play close to your body, watch the ball better.’ Sometimes, as a batter, all you need to be told is to watch the ball closer. You do miss that in all the action that happens around you. So I just felt like he was a fish out of water. Walking in during the sixth over is not his cup of tea.”
Kartik also echoed Ashwin’s sentiments, saying if Sooryavanshi is to be included in the Indian team, he has to play as an opener.
“Where is he at his best? He is good as an opener. You have put him in the middle order. He has not played there, he is a young kid, and he has only batted in one way. This is exactly why you have experienced players, so they can play different roles. In my opinion today, although they won the match, which is a different matter, if you are playing Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, he should have opened today,” Kartik had said after the 2nd T20I.
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