It's been a dominant series for India so far as they lead New Zealand 3-0, having sealed the series already with two more games yet to play. More than the wins, the manner of victories show the ruthless nature of India's T20I side and the defending champions look in top for m as they look to defend their title in the 2026 T20 World Cup that begins on February 7.
Coming back to the New Zealand series, Hardik Pandya is likely to miss the fourth T20I in Vizag and perhaps, could sit out of the final game in Thiruvananthapuram as well. This isn't due to any injury concerns but it shall be only done as a part of workload management, given Hardik's invaluable place in India's white-ball setup.
One part of this argument is that Hardik only recently returned from injuries and has actually been preserved so well that he didn't play the last two ODI series which India featured in. But, with the T20 World Cup so near, India would want Hardik to recharge his batteries before the mega tournament.
In any case, India do have warm-up fixtures before the main tournament starts, hence Hardik has opportunities to get some match practice even if he misses the last two T20Is against New Zealand. If Hardik is rested, India will toy with the idea of including Axar Patel as the all-rounder.
Axar's entry could mean a tweak to the bowling combination and Harshit Rana is also likely to get a game in Vizag. Varun Chakaravarthy, who was rested in the previous fixture, should be back for this one. While India will make some changes, they would also ideally want to keep winning to ensure strong momentum heading into the World Cup.