The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has announced the Indian team for their upcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand.
The likes of Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, and Jasprit Bumrah headline the squad that is almost the same as the one that beat Bangladesh 2-0 recently.
India are currently the leaders of the World Test Championship (WTC) points table with 74.24 Percentage Points (PCT), while New Zealand are placed sixth, with 37.50 PCT. Here is the complete squad list for India, as the league-leaders welcome the Blackcaps later this month for a two-match Test series.
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Jaspirt Bumrah named vice-captain; Shami misses out
While most of the squad is on expected lines, there are a couple of noticeable tweaks. India lacked an official vice-captain in the matches against Bangladesh, but the doubts have now been cleared.
Bumrah, India's pace spearhead, would play deputy to Rohit in the longest format. The 30-year-old has led India in the past as stand-in captain but there were questions whether Shubman Gill is Rohit's deputy but those have now been put to rest.
Openers Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal have been in red-hot form in the red-ball format. The BCCI has thus, stuck with the batting depth in the middle-order with the retention of Sarfaraz Khan and KL Rahul in the squad.
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Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel are India's choice behind the stumps, with Rishabh being the frontrunner to occupy the position. However, with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy looming on the team India's heads, the management could opt for rotation for the home series to manage workload.
Ravi Ashwin, Ravi Jadeja, and Axar Patel fill the spin-bowling all-rounder slots.
Mohammad Siraj and Akash Deep will form the pace-bowling unit, besides Bumrah. Yash Dayal, who received his maiden call-up in the Bangladesh series, has been left out of the squad. There is also no place for Mohammed Shami who is currently recovering from an injury and was thought to be on course to play against New Zealand.
However, it seems, his return will be delayed further.
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Complete India squad for New Zealand Tests
- Rohit Sharma (C)
- Jasprit Bumrah (VC)
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- Shubman Gill
- Virat Kohli
- KL Rahul
- Sarfaraz Khan
- Rishabh Pant (WK)
- Dhruv Jurel (WK)
- Ravichandran Ashwin
- Ravindra Jadeja
- Axar Patel
- Kuldeep Yadav
- Mohammad Siraj
- Akash Deep
Who are India's traveling reserves for the upcoming NZ Test series?
BCCI has named the likes of Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mayank Yadav and Prasidh Krishna, as traveling reserves for the New Zealand Tests. The quartet would be a part of the main team, and train with the 15-man squad throughout the bilateral series.
The management has rewarded youngsters Mayank and Nitesh for their exploits in the ongoing T20I series against Bangladesh.
India Vs New Zealand Test Series Full Schedule
| Test | Date (2024) | Venue |
|---|---|---|
| 1st Test | October 16 - October 20 | Bengaluru |
| 2nd Test | October 24 - October 28 | Pune |
| 3rd Test | November 01 - November 05 | Mumbai (Wankhede) |
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