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The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has named emerging batter Kumar Kushagra as Ishan Kishan's backup for the India vs New Zealand 2nd T20I match. The second match of the ongoing bilateral series will be played on Saturday, October 24, and ahead of it, Ishan Kishan's injury was widely reported.
BCCI confirmed that the wicketkeeper-batter sustained a low-grade right adductor strain during the first T20I against New Zealand. On Friday evening, the board, through an official press release, informed that, as the cover of Ishan Kishan, the selectors have named Kumar Kushagra, who is already in New Zealand with the India A cricket team.
BCCI names Kumar Kushagra as Ishan Kishan's replacement
Kushagra will join the Shreyas Iyer-led squad from the India A squad ahead of the second match, which will be in Christchurch. BCCI further informed that their medical team continues to monitor Kishan’s progress.
It is also speculated that in place of injured Kishan, the 15-year-old batting prodigy, Vaibhav Suryavanshi, can play the upcoming T20I match against New Zealand.
Who will play in place of Ishan Kishan in the 2nd T20I vs New Zealand?
Since the conclusion of the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, Vaibhav Suryavanshi has not played for India in any T20Is. After missing out on the entire home T20I series against West Indies, the top-order batter missed the India vs New Zealand 1st T20I match as well. Without Souravanshi in the line-up, the Men in Blue had no trouble winning the series opener on the home of the Kiwis. India won the previous match against the home team, chasing 226 runs. It was India's biggest successful run chase in the shortest format of the game, in terms of the total runs secured by the opposing team in the first innings.
Sanju Samson's 60-plus-run knock bolstered the team's run chase early in the innings. Then, from the middle order, captain Shreyas Iyer and Naman Dhir played explosive knocks to win the match for Team India. It is widely believed that, to maintain strength in the batting order, the Indian team management could name Vaibhav Sooryavanshi in the playing combination. If the team management names Sooryavanshi, the batting order will be interesting to see.
Who is Kumar Kushagra?
Hailing from Bokaro, Jharkhand, Kumar Kushagra is a well-known face in Indian domestic cricket. Like Ishan Kishan, Kushagra is also a wicketkeeper-batter who plays for the Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League. Kumar Kushagra is yet to show his true potential in the T20 league, but he has already bagged tons for runs in the First Class and List A cricket.
Recently, during a multi-day match against Australia, the right-handed batter scored a century in Puducherry. In the final match of the Duleep Trophy, which was played in mid-September, the batter claimed a century under Chennai's hot and humid conditions.
In First-Class cricket, Kushagra has scored 2507 runs with an average of 42.49 in 61 matches, and in List A cricket, the 22-year-old has a batting average of 51.37 in 35 innings,
