India will walk out at Eden Park in Auckland on Friday with the five match series already won and a 4-0 lead in sight, as the Auckland T20I gives the visitors a chance to stretch a run of wins that has left New Zealand searching for answers. India lead 3-0 after wins at Christchurch and Wellington, and the Auckland T20I starts at 12:30 pm IST, .
The series has followed a clear pattern so far. India have chased in all three matches and have reached every target New Zealand have set, including 226 and 181 at Christchurch and 199 at Wellington. The Wellington chase stood out because India reached the target in 13.2 overs, with Abhishek Sharma scoring 113 from 38 balls and Vaibhav Sooryavanshi adding 45 from 19 balls. The pair put on 133 for the first wicket, and India scored 118 runs in the powerplay. That start left New Zealand with little room to recover, and the hosts have now lost three matches in a row at home in this series.
Auckland T20I and the selection calls for India
With the series decided, the Auckland T20I may be used to give time to players who have not yet played in the series. Wrist spinners Kuldeep Yadav and Varun Chakaravarthy are in the squad and have not played so far, and both could come into the side at Eden Park. Captain Shreyas Iyer and the team management also have a call to make on wicketkeeper batter Ishan Kishan, who missed two matches with an adductor strain. If Kishan returns, the side must decide how to fit him in alongside Sooryavanshi, who has made a strong case to stay in the side after his innings in Wellington.
Sooryavanshi is 15 years old and has already shown he can score at a rapid rate at the top of the order. His 45 from 19 balls in Wellington came at a run rate of more than 18 per over for his stay at the crease, and his opening stand with Abhishek Sharma passed 50 in 2.2 overs and 100 in five overs. Sanju Samson scored 67 from 33 balls in the first match of the series, and Tilak Varma finished the second match with an unbeaten 51 from 26 balls.
Auckland T20I form guide: Abhishek Sharma leads the way
Abhishek Sharma has been the most damaging batter in the series. His 35 ball hundred in Wellington was his fourth hundred in T20 internationals and his 11th hundred in all T20 cricket, the most by an Indian man in the format. Since the start of 2025, he has scored 1,984 runs in T20 internationals at an average of 35.4 and a strike rate of 200.6, with 13 fifties and three hundreds in that period. In this series he has 169 runs at a strike rate of 238, with 15 sixes. Those numbers explain why New Zealand have spent much of the series trying to find a way to slow him down in the powerplay.
New Zealand captain Mitchell Santner has been the one bowler to trouble India with any regularity. He took four wickets for 21 runs in the second match, and previews ahead of the Auckland T20I noted that he has dismissed Samson four times in seven innings, with Samson averaging 8.5 against him. Santner has seven wickets in the series at seven runs per over, while the rest of the attack has struggled to contain an Indian top order that has scored freely from the first over. New Zealand are also without Matt Henry and Lockie Ferguson, who is out of the series with a calf injury, and that has left their pace attack short of experience at Eden Park.
Auckland T20I: what New Zealand must change
New Zealand need a better start with bat and ball if they are to avoid a fourth straight defeat in the Auckland T20I. Daryl Mitchell scored an unbeaten 89 in Wellington as New Zealand reached 198 for three, but that total was still chased down with ease. Finn Allen, Tim Seifert, Glenn Phillips and Mitchell form a batting group that can score quickly, yet none of them have been able to put India under pressure for long enough in this series.
The bowling plan will matter just as much in the Auckland T20I. Jacob Duffy and Kyle Jamieson have both been expensive against Abhishek Sharma, who has struck at 228.3 against Duffy and 338.1 against Jamieson since the start of 2025, according to figures quoted in previews.
Before that, the Auckland T20I offers India a chance to move to 4-0 and keep a clean sweep alive, while New Zealand play to record a first win of the series .