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New Delhi: The Men in Blue are left with just five matches before the T20 World Cup 2026 begins. Suryakumar Yadav-led India will look to have most pieces of the puzzle firmly in place. Compared to many other top teams Indias level of clarity and stability is impressive. However worries about players form fitness are still some issues to resolve before the World Cup commence. As they prepare for the five-match T20I series against New Zealand in Nagpur on Wednesday here are five key questions the team will be thinking about. Sanju Samson who will walk in as a opener alongside Abhishek Sharma boasts an outstanding record as a T20I opener. Her has smashed three centuries in just 18 innings a strike rate of 178.02 and an average of 32.88. Among Indian openers with 500 or more T20I runs only his opening partner Abhishek Sharma has a higher strike rate (190.40). Samson will finally return to his opening slot reclaiming it from vice-captain Shubman Gill who was dropped weeks before a World Cup. Who should replace Tilak Verma- Shreyas Iyer or Ishan Kishan? With Tilak Vermas unavailability for the first three games of the series two contenders for his spot Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer both present strong cases for selection. Iyer has not featured in T20Is since December 2023 and was dropped from the T20 squad since last years IPL final due to injury. However his performances helped Punjab Kings reach that final he amassed a total of 604 runs at a strike rate of 175.07. While Iyer is not a like-for-like replacement for Tilak as a right-hander that difference could actually work in his favour especially given how heavily left-handed Indias top order already is. Talking about Kishan he endured a far more stop-start IPL compared to Iyer scoring a century and an unbeaten 94 but offering little consistency at the later stage of the tournament. However he forced his way back into Indias squad as the reserve wicketkeeper after his brilliant Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy campaign for Jharkhand whom he captained to the title. Unlike Iyer Kishan is also part of Indias T20 World Cup squad and if Tilaks recovery stays on track the team management may prefer to give opportunities to someone already in that group rather than to a player outside it. Indias major concern would be Suryakumar Yadavs from Indias major concern is T20I captain Surykumar Yadav who is going through the toughest phase of his international career. He has gone 22 innings without registering a fifty averaging just 12.84 during that stretch. Since the T20I series against South Africa he has batted only twice in competitive cricket making scores of 24 and 15 for Mumbai in the Vijay Hazare Trophy. He will be leading India for the first time in World Cup that too as defending champions which leaves little room for error. Among Indian batters with at least 200 T20I runs in the death overs (17–20) only Suryakumar Yadav (228.49) and Rohit Sharma (217.24) has registered better strike rates than Rinku Singhs 207.75. The key difference is that Suryakumar and Rohit usually enter the death overs well set having batted through much of the innings. Rinku Singh has a strong case as Indias best finisher Rinku therefore has a strong case as Indias best finisher in the format. His average of 38.28 in the death overs underlines that his power-hitting does not come at the cost of frequent dismissals and his overall numbers suggest he should be an automatic choice in the lower middle order. Gills return to the top of the order had pushed Rinku out of the middle order to make room for a wicketkeeper limiting him to just two T20Is since September and facing only a single delivery—the winning boundary in the Asia Cup final. With Samson back as the wicketkeeper-opener Rinku should slot back at No. 6 or 7 but selection isn’t that simple. Shivam Dube who has played all but one of India’s 16 T20Is since the Asia Cup has delivered useful cameos and contributed with his medium-pace bowling despite modest batting returns. The choice may ultimately depend on conditions. On typical Indian T20 pitches which are usually true and conducive to high scoring India may prefer an extra seamer over a wristspinner like Kuldeep and opt for the more established pace-hitter in Rinku over another batting-focused allrounder like Dube. On turning tracks however Dube’s dual skills with bat and ball make him a handy option potentially allowing India to drop a frontline seamer to accommodate Kuldeep. Harshit Rana enters this T20I series on the back of a breakthrough ODI series against New Zealand impressing with both his fast bowling especially with the new ball and his emerging batting. While India previously experimented with options like Dube Washington Sundar or Jitesh Sharma at No. 8 Ranas recent form gives him the edge offering a versatile seam option who can contribute with the bat lower down the order. Indias squad for NZ T20Is:  Abhishek Sharma Sanju Samson (wk)  Suryakumar Yadav (c)  Shreyas Iyer/Ishan Kishan  Hardik Pandya  Axar Patel  Rinku Singh Harshit Rana/Shivam Dube  Arshdeep Singh/Kuldeep Yadav  Jasprit Bumrah Varun Chakravarthy.