Bhuvneshwar Kumar returns to India's T20I squad for New Zealand series

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has returned to India's T20I squad with BCCI's senior selection committee naming the 36-year-old fast bowler for the five-match series on the upcoming tour of New Zealand.

Interestingly, Bhuvneshwar made his final India appearance in November 2022, right after the T20 World Cup campaign, in New Zealand. He has now stormed back into the setup following a pair of very successful IPL campaigns for Royal Challengers Bengaluru. Bhuvneshwar had a particularly successful IPL 2026, taking 28 wickets with an outstanding economy of 7.95.

Varun Chakaravarthy makes a return to the 16-man squad as well. The mystery spinner, 35, has been plagued by injuries since 2026. He last played in a T20I against Afghanistan in Delhi. While he was there, he got a side strain, which kept him out of the T20I against Japan and the Asian Games that followed. He rejoins the team at Ravi Bishnoi's expense.

The remainder of the T20I team is comparable to the one that is currently playing West Indies. With a crucial two-Test series coming later in the tour, Jasprit Bumrah has not been selected for the T20Is, likely due to his workload.

The first Twenty20 International (T20I) of India's tour of New Zealand begins on October 22 at Christchurch's Hagley Oval.

India's T20I squad: Shreyas Iyer [c], Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson [wk], Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan [wk], Tilak Varma [vc], Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav