Kumar Kushagra Added to India Squad as Cover for Injured Ishan Kishan
Kumar Kushagra has been added to India's squad for the second T20I against New Zealand. He comes in as cover for Ishan Kishan, who has been ruled out with a low-grade right adductor strain. The BCCI announced the move on Friday, October 23. The second T20I is on Saturday, October 24, at Hagley Oval in Christchurch.
Kishan picked up the injury during the first T20I, which India won by four wickets. The BCCI said its medical team will keep monitoring his progress. The Men's Selection Committee then named Kushagra as the replacement.
Kushagra is an uncapped wicketkeeper-batter from Jharkhand. He was already in Christchurch with the India A squad. India A are set to play New Zealand A in a three-match unofficial Test series, which starts on Saturday in Lincoln. Kushagra will now leave that group and join the senior team for the second T20I.
He is not new to the senior setup. Kushagra is also part of India's squad for the five-match ODI series against New Zealand, which follows the T20Is. He and Kishan know each other well from domestic cricket. They shared a 177-run partnership for Jharkhand in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy final in December 2025. Kishan scored 101 off 49 balls in that stand, and Jharkhand posted 263.
India's updated squad for the second T20I is Shreyas Iyer (c), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Tilak Varma (vc), Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav and Kumar Kushagra (wk).
Samson is the other wicketkeeper in the group. He scored 67 off 33 balls in the first T20I and won the Player of the Match award. India lead the five-match series 1-0 after chasing down 226, their highest successful chase in T20Is.
The squads page has the full list of players for the tour. The first T20I scorecard shows how India got home in Christchurch. The event page carries the full schedule and the latest series news.