"That's where India could have used Kuldeep Yadav" - Former CSK star's blunt criticism after conceding 259 for 7 in NZ vs IND 2026 4th T20I

Former Chennai Super Kings (CSK) batter Ambati Rayudu believes Team India could have included veteran spinner Kuldeep Yadav in the ongoing fourth T20I against New Zealand. On an Auckland ground with small straight boundaries, the Indian spinners Axar Patel and Naman Dhir combined to concede 59 off four overs for a wicket.

As a result, the Kiwis posted their highest-ever T20I total of 259/7 in 20 overs, also the most India has conceded in a T20I.

Talking about India's bowling performance in the mid-innings break, Rayudu said on Cricbuzz:

"Axar Patel and Naman Dhir bowl fast. But when you want batters to hit to the square boundaries because of the short straight boundary, you have to slow it up. That is where India could have used Kuldeep in this game to slow things up and force the batters to hit to the longer square boundaries."

He added:

"The Indian bowlers rely on the fuller deliveries. So when your strength is bowling full, and the boundary size is small, you know if you miss, it's going to go big. The strengths of Arshdeep, Prince, and Nitish are bowling full. And in this ground, that's what has been reflected in the final score."

Kuldeep hasn't featured yet in the ongoing T20I series, but India won all three matches before to capture an unassailable 3-0 lead.

"Yorker is not natural to him" - Dinesh Karthik on Mayank Yadav's performance in the 4th T20I

Former Indian wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik believes express pacer Mayank Yadav went away from his strengths in a costly final over in the fourth T20I against New Zealand. The speedster was India's best bowler on show in his first three overs, conceding only 28 runs and taking two wickets.

However, he gave away 20 runs off his final over by searching more for fuller deliveries and yorkers.

"For Mayank Yadav, more bounce works because he's high pace. His strength is the hard-length ball. Yorkers are not natural to him; he tries. In the last over where he went for runs, that's what he was doing, bowling a lot more yorkers," said Karthik (via the aforementioned source).

Chasing a mammoth 260, India are off to a dismal start, scoring only 61 runs and losing four wickets after the powerplay.

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