Why Shreyas Iyer is Not Playing Today in IND vs NZ 4th T20I?

India's star batter Ishan Kishan has unfortunately missed out in the 4th T20I against New Zealand in Visakhapatnam. The left-handed batter picked up a niggle in the third T20I, as mentioned by India skipper Suryakumar Yadav during the toss.

Many would've thought that the team management would bring in another batter like Shreyas Iyer to fulfill the void, but the team management decided to bring in the left-arm seamer Arshdeep Singh as Ishan Kishan's replacement in the match.

Why Shreyas Iyer is Not Playing Today?

Shreyas Iyer was included in India's squad for the ongoing five-match T20I series as Tilak Varma's replacement. However, the batter is yet to play a match in the series so far. Shreyas Iyer IND vs NZ series selection was a surprise as he hadn't been a part of the T20I team for a long time.

The right-handed batter, who is also among the best batsmen in India at the moment, would've been Ishan Kishan's ideal replacement for the IND vs NZ 4th T20I. However, Arshdeep was included in the playing XI as he is also a part of the T20 World Cup squad.

India's batting has been quite strong in the series, but the bowlers are yet to be tested. Since the T20 World Cup is just around the corner, it would be a great opportunity for the bowlers to improve their weak areas ahead of the major tournament.

The new team combination will also test India's batting, which has been devastating this series so far. It remains to be seen whether the batsmen still go for their shots despite knowing that they have a long tail.

Shreyas Iyer's Excellent Numbers in T20Is

In T20Is, Shreyas Iyer has featured in 51 matches so far in his career and scored 1104 runs at an impressive average of 30.66. The right-handed batter also has eight half-centuries in the shortest format at a strike rate of 136.12. It was quite surprising to see him out of the squad for so long, despite proving his worth in the Indian Premier League (IPL) as well.

However, the Men in Blue have some of the best T20 batsmen in the line-up, making it even more difficult for Iyer. He led Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) to their third IPL title in 2024 and later took Punjab Kings (PBKS) to the final in 2025. The middle order batter was once seen as the future captain of the Indian team in white-ball cricket, however, the management opted to go with Shubman Gill and Suryakumar Yadav as the ODI and T20I captains respectively.