Shreyas Iyer wins toss again as India chase 4-0 in Auckland

India captain Shreyas Iyer won the toss for the fourth consecutive time in the series against New Zealand at Eden Park, Auckland, on Friday, 30 October. India lead the five-match T20I series 3-0 and are looking to go 4-0 up in the fourth game.

Outlook India lists India’s XI as Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson (wk), Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer (c), Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Axar Patel, Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav and Prince Yadav.

Iyer’s toss record

Outlook India reports that Iyer has won 19 tosses in his first 25 matches as captain, which it describes as the best by any Full Member nation captain over that span. Darren Sammy is second with 17.

Asked about the secret, Iyer said he simply follows the same pattern every now and then.

Changes and approach

Before the game, Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s place was under scrutiny after he conceded 139 runs off 72 balls in the first three matches, while spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakaravarthy were in the frame for comebacks, Tribune India reported. Bhuvneshwar is not in the XI Outlook lists.

Chakaravarthy said head coach Gautam Gambhir has asked the players to aim to win every match, including both remaining T20Is, even though the series is already won.

How the series got here

India won the first three games by 4 wickets, 4 wickets and 6 wickets. In the third, on 27 October, New Zealand made 198/3 and India replied with 199/4 in 13.2 overs. Abhishek Sharma’s 113 off 38 balls led the chase, while Daryl Mitchell’s unbeaten 89 off 52 was the top score for New Zealand.

CricViz figures cited by ANI say Abhishek’s 35-ball century in Wellington took him to four T20I hundreds and 11 centuries in T20 cricket, the most by an Indian batter.

India have won 22 of their 34 T20I meetings with New Zealand. The hosts have won 11 and one match was tied.

What’s next

The fifth T20I is on Sunday, 1 November at 12:30 PM IST. The ODI series then starts on 4 November in Auckland at 7:30 AM IST, with Shubman Gill captaining India in the first three ODIs.