Suryakumar Yadav Clarifies Why Ishan Kishan Was Wicketkeeping in 5th T20I

Suryakumar Yadav said India had decided before the series to rotate wicketkeeping duties between Sanju Samson and Ishan Kishan.

India captain Suryakumar Yadav clarified that Ishan Kishan was always scheduled to keep wickets ahead of Sanju Samson in the fifth T20I against New Zealand in Thiruvananthapuram. He said the team management had decided on the wicketkeeping rotation even before the series began.

The move came soon after Kishan scored a century in the first innings, which led to speculation that Samson could be dropped for India’s opening match of the 2026 T20 World Cup against the USA on Saturday. It also appeared that the team wanted Kishan to get more time behind the stumps.

Wicketkeeping Duties Were Meant To Be Rotational

Explaining the decision, Suryakumar said, “I think both the keepers were playing since game one, as Tilak [Varma] was not available. So, we had decided before the series that three games will be kept by Sanju Samson and two games will be kept by Ishan. Ishan unfortunately missed the last game because of a niggle but he was anyway going to keep wickets in this match.”

Kishan was selected as Samson’s backup for the series. However, Samson failed to make the most of his chances, scoring 46 runs at an average of 9.20 across the matches he played. In contrast, Kishan took full advantage of batting in the top order in Tilak Varma’s absence, scoring 215 runs at an average of 53.75 and an impressive strike rate of 231.18.

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Despite Kishan’s strong performance with the bat, his wicketkeeping raised some concerns. He did not look completely comfortable behind the stumps and missed a few chances, adding to head coach Gautam Gambhir’s selection headache ahead of the T20 World Cup.

The wicketkeeper debate remains open as India prepare for their World Cup opener, with both Kishan and Samson still in contention.