India have announced the 16-man squad for the upcoming two-match long Test series against New Zeland starting November 25.
As it has been reported, Virat Kohli will miss the first Test of the series and Ajinkya Rahane will lead the side for the first game before Kohli will come back for the second Test. Cheteshwar Pujara has been elevated as vice-captain in the absence of Virat Kohli.
India have rested Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant and Mohammed Shami from the entire series.
Shubman Gill, who was sent back from England after an injury has returned to the Test squad while Mayank Agarwal, who could not feature in any of the Tests against England has maintained his place in the squad.
The spin twins—Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin find a place in the squad and so does KL Rahul despite their prolonged stay in the biosecure bubble through the course of the last many months.
Off-spinner Jayant Yadav, who last played a Test for India in the year 2017 has made his return to the squad while Axar Patel, who announced his arrival at the Test level in a grand manner against England maintain his place in the side.
The quartet of Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Md. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna has been picked in the absence of both Bumrah and Shami.
KS Bharat and Wriddhiman Saha are the two wicketkeeper batsmen in the squad.
Hanuma Vihari, who last played a marathon rearguard innings in the Sydney Test against at the start of the year has been dropped from the squad. As per some media reports, he will head to South Africa with the India A side touring just before India senior’s tour in December.
In a rather surprise move, Shreyas Iyer has also made a comeback into the squad and it could well be that India are looking at him as a middle-order option in the long-term future.
India’s Test squad
Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Md. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna