India recall veteran seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar after four-year absence

By SABC Sport
7th October 2026

Bhuvneshwar Kumar could be in line to make his first international appearance in four years after recalled to the India squad for the T20I series in New Zealand starting later this month.

The 36-year-old seamer last represented India in November 2022, and played an a total of 87 T20Is while taking 90 wickets with an economy-rate of under seven runs to the over.

Bhuvneshwar seemed rejuvenated in the 2026 Indian Premier League, taking 28 wickets in 16 matches - second only to South Africa's Kagiso Rabada - to help Royal Challengers Bangalore win the title.

India have also selected Varun Chakravarthy in the 16-man squad, with the spinner on his way to recovering fully from a side strain picked up against Afghanistan in September.

Hardik Pandya wasn't considered for the tour after suffering a fresh injury setback and was forced to pull out of a one-day series for India A against Australia A.

The rest of the squad is same as the one currently taking on West Indies at home, where the hosts are 1-0 up in the five-match series following an eight-wicket victory on Tuesday.

India T20I squad: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Abhishek Sharma, Sanju Samson, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Ishan Kishan, Tilak Varma, Axar Patel, Shivam Dube, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Naman Dhir, Prince Yadav, Mayank Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Varun Chakaravarthy, Kuldeep Yadav