Why are Varun Chakravarthy and Arshdeep Singh not playing today in IND vs NZ 3rd T20I?

India and New Zealand are set for the third T20I of the five-match series at Guwahati, where the hosts India are leading by 2–0, and with another victory, they will secure the series. In this third T20I, Indian bowlers Varun Chakravarthy and Arshdeep Singh aren't present in the playing XI. 

In the Guwahati T20I on Sunday evening (January 25), the Indian skipper Suryakumar Yadav chose to field first after winning the toss. At that toss, he revealed that they made two changes, as Jasprit Bumrah and Ravi Bishnoi are in the playing XI as the replacements for Varun Chakravarthy and Arshdeep Singh.

See Also: IND vs NZ, 3rd T20: Toss Update and Playing XI

Varun Chakravarthy and Arshdeep Singh are crucial names in Indian T20I bowling 

Both the leg-spinner Varun Chakravarthy and the left-arm fast bowler Arshdeep Singh are very crucial names in the Indian T20I bowling line-up. While Varun is the no.1-ranked T20I bowler at present, Arshdeep is the leading T20I wicket-taker for Men in Blues. 

Varun Chakravarthy and Arshdeep Singh rested for Guwahati T20I

The ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 is very near, as India and Sri Lanka will jointly host the tournament from February 7 to March 8, 2026. However, there is no new injury report in the Indian team. The absence of Varun and Arshdeep from the Guwahati T20I is only the Indian team management's players resting and workload management strategy, as the Indian captain clarified in the toss. Indian skipper confirmed that both players are resting for the game, while both played the first two games of the series, which India won by 48 runs and seven wickets.  

In the previous game, which was the second match of the series, Jasprit Bumrah was rested while Axar Patel was the for change due to his injury. Harshit Rana and Kuldeep Yadav replaced them for that Raipur T20I.