Team India cleared their final hurdle ahead of the 2026 T20 World Cup in style. The Men in Blue defeated New Zealand 4-1 in the five-match T20I series.

India now stand out as clear favorites for the marquee ICC event which begins this week. The hosts have won their recent bilateral series which makes the T20 World Cup champions main contenders according to that belief. The team's victory against the Black Caps brought them increased confidence. The New Zealand T20I series brought three important advantages to Team India which we will explain.

India caught many by surprise while announcing their squad for the New Zealand T20Is and the T20 World Cup. The selectors dropped Jitesh Sharma at the last moment and opted for Ishan Kishan who had been lighting up the domestic circuit.

Kishan made the most of his T20I comeback and grabbed the opportunity with both hands. He smashed his maiden international century in the final match and chipped in with impactful cameos in the other games. The left-hander looked fluent and showed strong intent throughout the series. India can now comfortably pair Kishan with Abhishek Sharma at the top without concerns about Sanju Samson's batting performance.

Suryakumar Yadav faced difficulties during 2025 yet he successfully established his batting performance against New Zealand. He received the Player of the Series award because he scored three half-centuries with each one achieving a strong batting rate. Suryakumar has reached his present ability yet he needs to achieve better performance to help the Men in Blue. India had worried about their skipper’s form, and watching him score freely ticked a crucial box ahead of the T20 World Cup.

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Ishan Kishan and Suryakumar Yadav contributed to India victory while their team showed they could succeed without needing excessive support from Abhishek Sharma at the beginning of the match. The hosts received a major boost from that development.

Shivam Dube delivered his best T20I performance yet because he displayed noticeable growth during the last two years. Hardik Pandya performed exceptionally well as he batted against both fast and slow bowling. Rinku Singh hit several powerful shots while Axar Patel showed reliability despite his brief time at the batting order. The Indian batting team which had difficulties during the previous year has now reached its best performance level at the ideal time.