Published: Jan 20, 2026, 08:57 PM (IST)
Edited: Jan 20, 2026, 08:57 PM (IST)
A big revelation from star Indian player and captain of the team Suryakumar Yadav for the batting line-up. On Tuesday, SKY shares the replacement for Tilak Varma on third number as he is not part of the team due to an injury.
However, Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav announces Ishan Kishan as the third no-batter in the team India for the upcoming T20I series against New Zealand and the T20 World Cup 2026. But the big question, what about Shreyas Iyer?
However, the skipper made it amply clear that Iyer is being looked at as a No. 5.
“Ishan will bat at number 3 because he is a part of our T20 World Cup team and he was picked in the squad first so it’s our responsibility to give him a chance,” he said in the pre-match press conference.
“He hasn’t played for India for past one and half year and in the mean time consistently performed in domestic cricket,” the Indian skipper did not leave any room for guess work.
“Since he (Ishan) has been picked for World T20, he deserves to play ahead (of Shreyas). Had it been a question of batting slots Nos 4 or 5, it would have been a different question altogether. Unfortunately, Tilak isn’t there so Ishan is our best bet,” he added.
The T20 World Cup starts February 7 and will be co-hosted by India and Sri Lanka.
When asked if he himself has any chance of batting at No.3 where he got a lot of success, the skipper indicated that he would like to be flexible.
“I have batted at both positions for India. My stats at No. 4 are sightly better although they are good at No. 3 also. But then we are flexible with that,” he said.
“We will see and if the situation demands that we have to send a right-hander (in case right hander Sanju Samson gets out), then, I will go in, otherwise Tilak (now injured) has been doing really well at number three.“
With a strike rate of 113 and an average of less than 15 in 2025, Suryakumar has endured a prolonged rough patch but he intends to change nothing in his batting that has so far given him success.
“I’ve been out of runs. But I can’t change my identity. I have decided to keep doing what I have been doing in the last three or four years so that has given me a lot of success.
“If the performance comes, I’ll take it, if it doesn’t, it’s back to the drawing board. I’m still batting in the nets the way I always have,” said Suryakumar.
With PTI Inputs.
