Veteran India pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar made a stunning return to the national side after a four-year absence, with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) including him in the T20I side for the upcoming tour of New Zealand.

The 36-year-old’s last international appearance for India came in a T20I against New Zealand at McLean Park in Napier on November 22, 2022. Incidentally, it is the same venue and opponent that will now mark the end of his long exile from the national setup.

The decision was taken during a selection meeting held on Tuesday at the ACA Stadium in Guwahati, where the interim head of the selection committee, Pragyan Ojha, along with secretary Devajit Saikia and other selectors, finalised the T20I and India A squads. Bhuvneshwar’s return is seen as a major boost for India’s white-ball bowling attack, particularly given his expertise in swinging the new ball and his effectiveness during the powerplay overs.

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The 40-day tour, which begins on October 22, will be the largest men’s bilateral cricket series ever held in the country, featuring five T20Is, five ODIs, and two Test matches. The T20I leg will kick off in Christchurch, with subsequent matches in Wellington, Auckland, and Hamilton before the ODI series begins on November 4.

The Test matches, scheduled for November 19–23 in Wellington and November 27–December 1 in Christchurch, will be crucial for both teams’ ICC World Test Championship final qualification. This tour also marks India’s first Test assignment in New Zealand since 2019 and their first white-ball series in the country since 2022.

Alongside the senior T20I squad, the BCCI also announced the India A side that will travel to New Zealand for three four-day matches against New Zealand A starting October 24.

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The ODI and Test squads for the senior team will be announced later.

India T20I squad for New Zealand tour:

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.

India A squad for New Zealand tour:

Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Smaran, Rishabh Pant* [WK], Dhruv Jurel [C] [WK], Washington Sundar, Auqib Nabi, Akash Deep, Anshul Kamboj, Manav Suthar, Mukesh Choudhary, Sai Sudarsan, Yash Rathod, Mukesh Kumar

*Subject to fitness

India tour of New Zealand 2026 – Full Match Schedule

IND A tour of New Zealand – Full Schedule