New Zealand tour of India 2026 | 4th T20I | Preview and Predictions

The series has been sealed and hosts India will now look to try out their combinations ahead of the T20 World Cup 2026 with only a handful of games before the defending champions begin their title defence. New Zealand on the other hand will look to salvage the series with a couple of wins.

Here, we present our preview and predictions for the fourth T20I of the 2026 New Zealand tour of India.

New Zealand tour of India 2026 | 4th T20I | 19:00 IST, January 28, 2026

After picking up a thumping win in the third T20I that saw India win out the five-match T20I series, Suryakumar Yadav and Gautam Gambhir will look to use the remaining two games to finalise their squad for the T20 World Cup 2026. Abhishek Sharma at the top of the order has been in red hot form and Yadav himself, who came into the series on the back of a lengthy run of poor form has also found crucial runs. With Tilak Varma injured and officially ruled out of the remainder of the ongoing series, Ishan Kishan has slotted in perfectly at no.3 and Kishan has provided an added firepower at the top of the order along with Sharma. While the likes of Sharma, Kishan and Yadav have been firing on all cylinders, Sanju Samson, India’s go-to wicketkeeper has fallen into a rut and is struggling with the bat. With Kishan regularly performing, it remains to be seen if the management gives Kishan the long rope when Varma returns. 

India rested their frontline spinner, Varun Chakravarthy along with Arshdeep Singh for the third T20I, and with two of their mainstays rested it was Jasprit Bumrah stepping up. Bumrah’s form will be crucial for India heading into the World Cup and the hosts will hope that he continues from where he left off in Guwahati. The hosts have quite a number of bowling options with Hardik Pandya also getting amongst the wickets while Shivam Dube and Abhishek Sharma have been handy with the ball as well.

While India have sealed the series win and will be looking towards the upcoming World Cup, its a different picture in the camp of the visitors as New Zealand will be aiming to finish the series on the high and they take some momentum into the World Cup. The batting hasn’t clicked for New Zealand with the top order struggling to get going. Barring the second game where Rachin Ravindra and Tim Seifert got some quick runs, the top four hasn’t been able to bat long or provide a substantial innings, which has hurt the visitors. Glenn Phillips and Mark Chapman have been the only ones amongst the runs in the middle and lower order and the visitors will hope that their experienced batting unit steps up, especially given the fact that all three games have been on batting friendly wickets.

While the Indian top order, mainly Abhishek Sharma and Ishan Kishan have been taking the Kiwi bowlers apart, Jacob Duffy has been the standout bowler for the visitors as Duffy continues to impress with the new ball. The New Zealand captain, Mitchell Santner has a host of bowling options and he will be looking to get the most out of his bowlers and then get used to the conditions. 

Moving to Visakhapatnam for the fourth game, the action moves to another batting friendly wicket which means there should be plenty of runs once again. The slower bowlers and spinners might get some purchase on the strip with chasing being the go-to option for the teams, especially given how tough it gets to bowl with the dew. The hosts look in red hot form as they slowly are ticking off all the boxes and it should be India as the favourites once again. 

Fantasy XI: Abhishek Sharma (c), Devon Conway (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Hardik Pandya, Rinku Singh, Mitchell Santner, Varun Chakravarthy, Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Matt Henry

Venue: Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium, Visakhapatnam

Winners Prediction: India