Mumbai: Ishan Kishan will miss a second straight match, and India's batting order has a hole in it again. The Board of Control for Cricket in India said on Monday that the wicketkeeper-batter has not regained match fitness and is out of the third T20I against New Zealand in Wellington on October 27.
Kishan picked up a low-grade strain in his right adductor during the series opener. He did not bat at his usual number in that game and came in late, and was then ruled out of the second T20I at Christchurch. The board described him as "recovering well" and said the medical team is monitoring his progress, but the precaution has been extended by at least one more game.
Kumar Kushagra, drafted in as cover for the second match, stays with the squad. That leaves the team management with the same choice it faced in Christchurch, where 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi was sent in at No. 3 and made 4 off 8 balls.
The decision drew scrutiny from former players, with Ravichandran Ashwin questioning why a naturally attacking opener was being used in the middle order. India still won that match, by four wickets, chasing 181, with Tilak Varma playing the decisive innings.
New Zealand have their own absences. Fast bowlers Lockie Ferguson and Matt Henry are both missing the third T20I under workload management, and Henry is expected to sit out the remaining matches of the series.
India lead the five-match series 2-0, having won both games by four wickets, and a win at Henry Park would put the series beyond New Zealand with two matches to spare.
For Kishan, the timing is awkward. He has been India's highest T20I run-scorer this year, and a five-match series away from home is exactly the kind of stretch in which a wicketkeeper-batter cements a place. Instead he will watch from the dressing room and hope the medical team clears him for the last two games.