On Friday night (October 11), India named their squad for their home Test series against New Zealand, naming a new vice-captain.
Jasprit Bumrah named India vice-captain; Shami not fit for NZ Tests
India's squad is largely the same as the one that was picked for the recently-concluded series against Bangladesh, with just a few key changes. Left-arm seamer Yash Dayal has been left out of the squad. He is currently taking part in the Ranji Trophy first round for Uttar Pradesh against Bengal.
The hosts have also named a vice-captain for this series – fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah. No one was named in this role for the Bangladesh Tests, but this move may hint that Bumrah will lead India if Rohit Sharma is later confirmed to miss the first Test against Australia in Perth later this year. Bumrah has led India once before in Test cricket, against England in Birmingham in 2022.
The other major news is that speedster Mohammed Shami has not yet recovered from a knee injury to take his place in the squad for the New Zealand Tests. Reports last week said he was in doubt for the Australia tour in November due to a swollen knee, but Shami was quick to dismiss those.
India have also named four players as travelling reserves for the New Zealand Tests; pacers Harshit Rana, Mayank Yadav and Prasidh Krishna as well as seam-bowling all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy. Prasidh is currently playing in the Ranji Trophy for Karnataka, while the other three are part of India's T20I squad for the ongoing series against Bangladesh.
Nitish and Mayank made their international debuts in the first match of the series, and Rana could join them when the third and final T20I gets underway on Saturday (October 12).
The first Test against New Zealand will get underway on October 16 in Bengaluru, with the next two scheduled for October 24 in Pune and November 1 in Mumbai.
India Test squad to face New Zealand: Full list
Name | Role |
Rohit Sharma (captain) | Batter |
Jasprit Bumrah (vice-captain) | Bowler |
Yashasvi Jaiswal | Batter |
Shubman Gill | Batter |
Virat Kohli | Batter |
KL Rahul | Batter |
Sarfaraz Khan | Batter |
Rishabh Pant | Wicketkeeper |
Dhruv Jurel | Wicketkeeper |
Ravichandran Ashwin | All-rounder |
Ravindra Jadeja | All-rounder |
Axar Patel | All-rounder |
Kuldeep Yadav | Bowler |
Mohammed Siraj | Bowler |
Akash Deep | Bowler |
Harshit Rana | Bowler (travelling reserve) |
Nitish Kumar Reddy | All-rounder (travelling reserve) |
Mayank Yadav | Bowler (travelling reserve) |
Prasidh Krishna | Bowler (travelling reserve) |
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