India’s T20I captain Shreyas Iyer has ruled out the possibility of 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi playing in the five-T20I series opener on October 22 at Hagley Oval, Christchurch. Iyer wants the youngster to feel happy in the dressing room. The skipper has confirmed Abhishek Sharma and Sanju Samson as the opening duo for the T20I series. He believes that the T20 World Cup 2026-winning openers should continue, and Sooryavanshi will have to wait for his opportunities.
"It's important that a talent like him (Sooryavanshi) should always be happy around the dressing room," Iyer said in the pre-match press conference on October 21.
"He is very young, he has more years to get opportunities. It's not like he can walk in right now, because our openers are scoring consistently, and they have won the World Cup."
Iyer expects Sooryavanshi to learn about the conditions from the sidelines and prepare for the next time India tour New Zealand. He feels that his experience will help the players who will be new to the setup on the next tour.
"So, if you see, when he is coming overseas, he will get a fair idea how to play on these particular wickets,” the 31-year-old said.
"Next time, whenever he comes in these conditions, he will be very well-prepared. And he can also instruct the other team members, whoever comes here for the first time."
Sooryavanshi did not get a game in the recently concluded T20I series against West Indies at home. However, he played in the Asian Games 2026 semifinal and the final with Samson batting at no.3 as the Indian team wanted to lengthen their batting resources on spin-friendly pitches in Japan.
New Zealand ready for current out of syllabus question
While Iyer has declared that Sooryavanshi won’t be in the starting XI straightaway, New Zealand have their plans ready for the young hard-hitter.
"Obviously he [Sooryavanshi] didn't play [in India's last series against West Indies], but I've seen first-hand how good he is [in] the IPL," Santner said on the eve of the first T20I.
"The power at the top that India have, Sanju and Abhishek have done really well, so I think it's one of those things where we know how good he is, and then the guys who are playing are also doing very well.
"I think he has a huge part to play for India, whether it's this series or not, but in the future. If he does get a crack this series, we've seen what he can do, and guys have found it quite hard to stop him. I know England, in the series away, went quite short and hard at a lot of the Indian batters, but I think we've seen in the IPL how aggressive he can be, so we've got some plans for him if he happens to play."
On October 20, pacer Jacob Duffy had also revealed that the Kiwi think tank has plans in place for the young southpaw if he gets a crack in New Zealand.
I think he played in England, so conditions will be a little bit different for him, so that’s obviously one thing for him to be challenged with,” Duffy told the reporters.
“We’ve certainly had a good scouting session on him and got our plans as to what we want to do to him.”
Abhishek, Samson's T20I record vs New Zealand
Abhishek has scored 234 runs from six innings against the BlackCaps at an average of 46.8 and an astounding strike rate of 248.93. He has three fifties in just six appearances.
Samson overcame an unimpressive T20I record with a 90-run knock against New Zealand in the ICC Men's T20 World Cup 2026 final. From eight innings, he has 145 runs, averaging 18.12 at a strike rate of 161.11.
Abhishek is yet to play a T20I in New Zealand. Samson toured New Zealand six years ago. He managed just 10 runs from two T20Is.
Iyer at no.3 or no.4?
In the Asian Games 2026, Kishan batted in the middle order. Iyer has had success batting at no.3 in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Punjab Kings (PBKS). But, the skipper does not see himself batting at a specific number. He believes Kishan has made the no.3 spot his own.
"I feel that (with regards to) the team demands in a particular situation, you should be flexible. And if you see here, there are a lot of batsmen who, lower down the order, can't be that destructive,” said Iyer
"I feel that I can bat at any number. It depends upon the situation what is the situation of the game at that point.
"Now, if you see in the last World Cup, Kishan was consistently batting at number three, and he is a number one batsman right now. So, I don't foresee myself pushing myself up the order."
Iyer has had success at no.4 with 813 runs from 30 T20Is, averaging 35.34 and a strike rate of nearly 150, including a ton and four fifties. His maiden T20I ton came against the West Indies in a successful run chase earlier this month.
At no.5, he has not been at his best. From 14 innings at this position, he has scored 219 runs at an average of 19.90 and a strike rate of 126.58, including a solitary fifty.
On the other hand, Kishan is nearing 1,000 T20I runs at no.3. From 30 innings, he has 986 runs at an average of 35.21 and a strike rate of 165.71, including a ton and six fifties.
India vs New Zealand T20I squads
India: 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.
New Zealand: Mitchell Santner (c), Finn Allen (wk), Bevon Jacobs, Michael Bracewell, Daryl Mitchell, Josh Clarkson, Nathan Smith, Devon Conway, Glenn Phillips, Tim Seifert (wk), Jacob Duffy, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Kyle Jamieson, Adam Milne, Blair Tickner.