Watch: Crowd’s reaction goes viral when Suryakaumar Yadav confirms Sanju Samson is playing IND vs NZ 5th T20I

The fifth T20I of the five-match series between India and New Zealand, ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026 at the Greenfields International Stadium in Thiruvananthapuram, was only about Sanju Samsung and how he would do before his local crowd, which could be his last chance to stay in the playing 11 of the Indian side, heading into the ICC event.

India’s captain, Suryakumar Yadav, won the toss and decided to bat first. He confirmed that there would be so much due later in the evening, which would be a challenging factor for their bowlers to defend the target ahead of the World Cup. India made three changes in the playing 11, but the most important was whether Sanju Samson was playing or not.

“Axar comes back, Ishan comes back, and one more. Don't worry Thiruvananthapuram, Sanju Samson is playing tonight (laughs). He's (Tilak) just taking his time to play a few practice games. He's been a good player for us. When he comes back, it's going to be a solid side.” Sky expressed at the toss.

Crowd cheers as Sky confirms Suryakumar Yadav is playing in IND vs NZ 5th T20I

The crowd went wild and got their voice back when Surya confirmed that Sanju Samson was in the playing 11 for the 5020 I as the crowd could not wait to see their ‘Chetta’ opening the batting alongside Abhishek Sharma and put a strong score besides his name at the end of the first innings.

Watch the video here:

It was only the fourth time Surya has opted to bat first in T20Is, with three of these four games being dead rubbers as India own all of the previous three with margins of 133 runs, 135 runs, and 21 runs. However, Mitchell Santner reckoned that it would not be as much Dewey because of the wind blowing over the ground.

In the first four innings of the series, Samsung has got only 40 runs, including the first-ball duck during the second game at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati.

India’s playing XI for IND vs NZ 5th T20I

Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson(wk.), Ishan Kishan, Suryakumar Yadav(c), Rinku Singh, Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Varun Chakaravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah.