The BCCI announced India's 15-member squad for the upcoming Test series against New Zealand on Friday. The star pacer Jasprit Bumrah has been named new vice-captain for India's Test squad for the three-match series against the Kiwis starting on October 16.
India made just one change to their squad from the recent 2-0 Test win against Bangladesh. The young pacer Yash Dayal has been dropped after failing to crack the playing XI in two Tests against Bangladesh. Notably, India chose not to replace him with a new face and have named Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Akash Deep as three specialist fast bowlers for the New Zealand series.
The experienced bowler Mohammed Shami remains out as he fails to recover from his knee injury while the likes of Shreyas Iyer and Abhimanyu Easwaran fail to find a place in India's star-studded squad.
Notably, India have also named four fast bowlers as travelling reserves for the New Zealand series. The rising fast bowler Mayank Yadav is a surprise selection in the reserves having recently made his T20I debut in the ongoing series against Bangladesh. Nitish Reddy, Harshit Rana and fit-again Prasidh Kirshna are also in the reserves as the Indian management looks to keep fast bowling options available.
Meanwhile, Jasprit Bumrah's promotion to vice-captain role came as no surprise as he previously captained the Indian team in one Test against England at Edgbaston in 2022. The BCCI had not named any deputy to Rohit Sharma in India's last two Test assignments against Bangladesh and England.
The report that the Indian captain might miss the first Test against Australia in November has surfaced online and now Bumrah's appointment as a vice-captain cools down the guessing talk on the stand-in skipper.
India’s squad for the three Tests against New Zealand
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, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep.
Travelling Reserves: Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mayank Yadav and Prasidh Krishna.
New Zealand tour of India schedule
- 1st Test - October 16-21, M Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru
- 2nd Test - October 24-28, Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune
- 3rd Test - November 1-5, Wankhede Stadium, Pune
