India have recalled Bhuvneshwar Kumar for the five-match T20I series against New Zealand, which is set to take place later this month.
The 36-year-old medium-pacer, whose last appearance for India was also a T20I in New Zealand back in November 2022, secured his call-up after an impressive IPL 2026 campaign. Playing for Royal Challengers Bengaluru during their successful title defence, Kumar finished as the second-highest wicket-taker with 28 wickets, ending just one behind Purple Cap-winner Kagiso Rabada.
Kumar claimed 28 scalps across 16 matches in IPL 2026, including four in the knockout stage—two each against Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1 and the final. This improves on his 17-wicket haul from the 2025 season, further solidifying his position as the only player to have won the Purple Cap in consecutive seasons.
In his international T20 career, Kumar has played 87 matches, taking 90 wickets at an average of 23.10 and an economy rate of 6.96. Should he feature in New Zealand, he will become the third-oldest specialist bowler to represent India in men’s internationals, behind Ashish Nehra, who played his final game at 38 years and 186 days, and Shute Banerjee, who played his only Test at 37 years and 124 days.
Varun Chakravarthy is also returning to the squad after recovering from a side strain suffered during the T20I series against Afghanistan in September. That injury had ruled him out of the one-off game against Japan and the Asian Games, following his return from a hamstring injury during the home series.
Leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi, who was part of India’s squad for the ongoing home T20Is against the West Indies, has not been selected for the New Zealand tour. All-rounder Hardik Pandya remains unavailable due to a fresh shin injury sustained in late September, which also excluded him from India A’s one-dayers against Australia A, while pacer Harshit Rana is still sidelined after an injury picked up during rehab in early September.
The remainder of the squad mirrors the group that faced the West Indies.
India squad for New Zealand T20Is
Shreyas Iyer (capt.), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav
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