India will head into the home Test series against New Zealand with almost the same squad that faced Bangladesh in September. Mohammed Shami has not recovered in time for this series, which marks India’s last red-ball action before the five-Test series in Australia later this year. Yash Dayal, who received his maiden Test call-up for the Bangladesh series, is also unavailable.
Jasprit Bumrah Named Vice-Captain
Jasprit Bumrah has been named vice-captain for the three Tests against New Zealand. With Rohit Sharma’s participation in the first Test against Australia in doubt, Bumrah’s role becomes even more significant. India did not have a designated vice-captain for their recent Test series against Bangladesh, but Bumrah has fulfilled this role previously. He served as vice-captain during the home series against Sri Lanka in March 2022 and on tours to South Africa in 2023-24 and England earlier this year.
Bumrah has also led India in a one-off Test in England in 2022 when Rohit was sidelined due to a positive COVID-19 test.
Shami is working his way back from an ankle injury that required surgery. His last competitive appearance was in the ODI World Cup final against Australia in November 2023. There were hopes he would regain match fitness during India’s ongoing home season ahead of the important series in Australia.
Mayank Yadav, who made his T20I debut against Bangladesh earlier this month, will join the squad as a traveling reserve, along with Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, and Nitish Kumar Reddy.
India will play three Tests against New Zealand, starting October 16 in Bengaluru, followed by matches in Pune and Mumbai. New Zealand faces injury concerns as Kane Williamson is dealing with a groin issue.
India currently leads the World Test Championship (WTC) points table with a 74.24% win rate from 11 Test matches. Winning all eight of their remaining Tests—three against New Zealand at home and five away against Australia—could push their percentage to 85.09%. However, their realistic goal is to accumulate enough points to secure a spot in the WTC final, regardless of other outcomes.
India Test Squad for New Zealand Series
Rohit Sharma (cap) Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), R. Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain)
Traveling Reserves: Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mayank Yadav, Prasidh Krishna
Leave a Reply