India vs New Zealand 4th T20I predicted playing XI: Ishan Kishan injury update and who will he replace in Auckland?

India vs New Zealand 4th T20I predicted playing XI: Ishan Kishan injury update and who will he replace in Auckland? originally appeared on Cricket News . Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here . KEY TAKEAWAYS: Ishan Kishan is yet to regain match fitness after a right adductor strain in India 's first T20I against New Zealand . Vaibhav Sooryavanshi has taken his place and made 45 off 19 in Wellington. India have already won the series 3-0 with two matches left to play. Ishan Kishan injury update: Will he play the 4th T20I vs New Zealand? Ishan Kishan has missed the last two T20Is against New Zealand with a low-grade right adductor strain, an injury he sustained during the series opener at Hagley Oval on October 22. The fourth match in Auckland on Friday, October 30, is his next opportunity to return. The most recent official word came ahead of the Wellington game, when the BCCI ruled him out of a second successive match. Bowling coach Morne Morkel framed the absence as a matter of caution rather than a setback, confirming that Kishan was training with the group and progressing as expected. No fresh update has been issued since, which leaves Kishan available for selection in theory and doubtful in practice. With the series already secured, India have no reason to rush a batter who has not played in a week. There has been a cost to the time out beyond the matches themselves. Abhishek Sharma reclaimed the No. 1 spot in the ICC men's T20I batting rankings on Wednesday, taking it from Kishan on the back of his 113 off 38 balls in Wellington. MORE: India’s batting belief is reaching frightening levels Who will Ishan Kishan replace in Auckland? The slot Kishan left is not the slot he would be walking back into. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi replaced him for the second T20I and has since moved up to open alongside Abhishek Sharma, which has pushed Sanju Samson down to No. 3 and settled the rest of the order behind them. Sooryavanshi has made the move his own. He scored 45 off 19 balls in Wellington as part of an opening stand of 118 inside the powerplay, the highest six-over total in the history of men's T20Is, and India are unlikely to break that pair up two days later. That points to the middle order instead, where Naman Dhir at No. 6 is the most vulnerable, having had little to do beyond hitting the winning runs in two chases. Kishan could slot in there, or India could leave him out for one more game and hand him the Hamilton finale instead. MORE: Jadeja loses No. 1 ICC Test all-rounder crown after 4-year reign to Jansen India vs New Zealand 4th T20I predicted playing XI Abhishek Sharma Vaibhav Sooryavanshi Sanju Samson (wk) Shreyas Iyer (c) Tilak Varma Ishan Kishan Nitish Kumar Reddy Axar Patel Varun Chakravarthy Arshdeep Singh Prince Yadav MORE: Better than Lara? Karthik decodes the science behind Sooryavanshi’s massive backlift punch The Cricket News Opinion: Auckland is the game to look at Varun Chakravarthy India have won the series and have two matches in which nothing is at stake, which is precisely when a side should be looking at the players who have not had a game. Varun Chakravarthy came back into the squad after recovering from a side strain and has not been picked once, while Kuldeep Yadav has watched all three from the dugout. The case for a change is not only about giving them a run. New Zealand have posted 225, 180 and 198 in the three matches and no Indian bowler has finished with an economy rate under nine, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar going at 11.58 across his 12 overs on his return after four years. Eden Park is an unkind place to test any of this, with the shortest straight boundaries in world cricket and square boundaries that barely reach 55 metres. That is also the point, because a spinner who can hold his nerve there is worth knowing about before the next World Cup cycle. As for Kishan, there is no urgency. He is training; the absence has been described as precautionary throughout, and a batter returning from an adductor strain is better served by a full recovery than by two dead rubbers. For all the latest cricket news, opinion, and commentary, and to share your voice, head to our Facebook , Instagram , and X (Twitter) pages.