Former India player turned coach Abhishek Nayar has said that he wants to include Vaibhav Suryavanshi in the playing XI for the fifth T20I against the West Indies. However, he also stated that he wouldn’t accept that option as the destructive opener shouldn’t bat out of position. The five-match T20I series between India and the West Indies is currently tied at 2-2 after West Indies won the fourth match. The series decider will be played in Bengaluru on Saturday, October 17.

On the JioHotstar show ‘Game Plan,’ Nayar said, “I am very tempted. Are you going to play Vaibhav Suryavanshi out of position? I wouldn’t want to see that. If Vaibhav Suryavanshi plays, he should play at his strongest position, which is opening. If he opens, the one who is playing at No. 3 should play at his strongest position. No matter how much I am tempted, and I want to see Vaibhav Suryavanshi, that too in Bengaluru, I would make changes in bowling and not at all in batting.”

However, Abhishek Nayar also stated that India should include Kuldeep Yadav in their playing XI at Naman Dhir’s expense.

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“I would take a punt here, and try and go the Kuldeep Yadav way. So, I may replace a Naman Dhir with a Kuldeep Yadav and get Nitish Kumar Reddy one position up, and then Axar Patel. I think Axar Patel has also played that role really well for Team India when he is sent up as a floater,” he said.

“The last four are going to be attacking options, depending on Arshdeep’s fitness and how his shoulder is, because he got hit on his shoulder. That’s going to be something I am going to be really keen to look at as to how that pans out,” Nayar concluded.

Abhishek Nayar’s India playing 11 for IND vs WI 2026 5th T20I:

Sanju Samson, Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan, Shreyas Iyer, Tilak Varma, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Prince Yadav, Arshdeep Singh, Mayank Yadav