Bhuvneshwar Kumar returns, India announce 16-member squad for five-match T20I series against New Zealand

Bhuvneshwar Kumar is back in India’s T20I setup after almost four years. The experienced seamer is included in the squad for the five-match series against New Zealand, slated to begin on October 22. The 36-year-old last represented India in the T20 World Cup semifinal against England in Adelaide in November 2022 and has been out of the scheme of things since. 

Now, his return follows two productive IPL seasons with Royal Challengers Bengaluru. During which, he claimed 45 wickets and helped the franchise win the title in back-to-back seasons.  Notably, his most recent IPL campaign was particularly successful. Bhuvneshwar finished the 2026 season with 28 wickets at an economy rate of 7.95, which is phenomenal, to say the least. 

Meanwhile, his selection also means he will miss the Hong Kong Sixes, for which he had recently been named captain of India’s squad. On the other hand, India have rested Jasprit Bumrah for the T20I leg as part of their workload management plans. He is expected to return



for the ODI and Test assignments against New Zealand. 

The 16-member squad also features the return of Varun Chakaravarthy. The spinner, who has endured an injury-hit 2026, replaces Ravi Bishnoi after recovering from the side strain suffered against Afghanistan in Delhi. The injury had also ruled him out of the T20I against Japan and the Asian Games. Meanwhile, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has retained his place and will look for an opportunity during the series.

India 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

India 'A' squad - 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 Sudharsan, Yash Rathod, Mukesh Kumar