Why are Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana and Ravi Bishnoi not playing today in IND vs NZ 5th T20I match?

We are in the business end of the five-match India vs New Zealand T20I series as Thiruvananthapuram is hosting the last fixture of the series on Saturday night (January 31). It is the last official game for both teams before the beginning of the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026, which is just seven days away. 

Leading the series by 3-1, the Indian captain Suryakumar Yadav chose to bat first, as the hosts want to challenge themselves in the dew factor. Both India and New Zealand made several changes for the match, as both teams want to check the team depth in the last moment before the T20 World Cup.

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

IND vs NZ 5th T20I: Why are Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana and Ravi Bishnoi not playing?

For this fixture, Indian pacer Harshit Rana, left-arm wrist spinner Kuldeep Yadav, and the leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi have been benched. The all-rounder Axar Patel and the left-handed batter Ishan Kishan have returned from their injuries, the leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy, the no.1-ranked T20I bowler, has returned to the playing XI to get more game time.  

No fresh injury news for India

There is no fresh injury news in the Indian camp. So, the Indian cricket fans don't need to fear the changes. Rather than the changes that happened to provide some more game time, especially for two players (Axar Patel and Ishan Kishan) who have returned after recovering from injuries, which is good news for the Indian cricket team.