IND vs NZ: Why did India play only six batters in fourth T20I? Revealed

India suffered a 50-run thrashing at the hands of New Zealand in the fourth IND vs NZ T20I in Vizag.

Indian Cricket Team suffered their first setback in the ongoing T20I series against New Zealand Cricket Team. They lost the IND vs NZ fourth T20I by 50 runs in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday, January 28.

Despite winning the toss and choosing to field first, India completely failed with both bat and ball against the Black Caps. The Kiwi openers Devon Conway (44) and Tim Seifert (62) etched an opening stand of 100 runs, while Daryl Mitchell scored crucial 39 runs in the end. Posting 215/7 in the first innings, the Kiwis set a big challenge for the home team.

Since India chased down targets like a walk in the park in the last two matches, they were expected to come up with a similar show with the bat. However, they came up with a horrible performance and were far away from the target, getting bowled out for just 165 runs.

IND vs NZ: Suryakumar Yadav reveals why India played only six batters in fourth T20I

Notably, India experimented with their playing XI and picked six batters and five bowlers in the encounter. They tried different combinations in the previous games too. However, the move raised a lot of eyebrows after India’s flop show with the bat and their huge defeat.

In the post-match presentation, Indian captain Suryakumar shed light on why they went ahead with only six batters in the playing XI in Vizag. He said that they wanted to challenge themselves with such a combination and intentionally went ahead with the decision. He added they also wanted to give chances to all the players who are part of T20 World Cup 2026.

“I feel we purposely played six batters today. We wanted to have five perfect bowlers and wanted to challenge ourselves. Like for example, if we’re chasing 200 or 180, and we wanted to see if we were two down or three down, how does it look? But then it’s fine at the end of the day. And we wanted to play all the players who are part of the World Cup squad. Otherwise, we would have played other ones,’” said Suryakumar Yadav.

Meanwhile, after the defeat in the 4th game, India lead the five-match series 3-1. Both sides will clash in the final encounter on January 31 at Greenfield International Stadium in Trivendrum.

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