Minutes before the fourth T20 in Visakhapatnam, Suryakumar Yadav called correctly and, almost before the coin hit the turf, confirmed India would chase. The skipper liked what he had seen in training: a firm surface plus that tell-tale, late-evening sheen.
“It is quite humid today and there will be dew and we think it will come onto the bat in the second innings,” he said. “We need to repeat the good habits from the last year, learn from the last game and entertain the crowd.”
The decision meant a single change for the hosts. Ishan Kishan’s “niggle” from the previous outing lingered, so left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh returned. The batting order re-jigs itself again, Sanju Samson taking the gloves at the top.
Mitchell Santner, standing in for the injured Kane Williamson on this trip, admitted he would also have preferred to bowl. “Looks like a good wicket. The dew has set in and it might be a bit hard later on,” he noted. “We know the quality of this Indian team, but it looks like a good wicket and we will want to set up a score.”
New Zealand’s lone tweak is an interesting one: right-arm quick Zak Foulkes replaces Kyle Jamieson. James Neesham remains unavailable and Lockie Ferguson is still sidelined, so the tourists continue to juggle resources.
Playing XIs
India: Sanju Samson (wk), Abhishek Sharma, Suryakumar Yadav (capt), Hardik Pandya, Shivam Dube, Rinku Singh, Harshit Rana, Kuldeep Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Jasprit Bumrah, Ravi Bishnoi.
New Zealand: Tim Seifert (wk), Devon Conway, Rachin Ravindra, Glenn Phillips, Daryl Mitchell, Mark Chapman, Mitchell Santner (capt), Zak Foulkes, Matt Henry, Jacob Duffy, Ish Sodhi.
Conditions should favour stroke-play once the lights bite, but early use of the new ball could still matter. Expect spin later, and plenty of talk about that out-field moisture—if it arrives on schedule.
