Senior player Ajinkya Rahane was named captain of the Indian team for the opening Test of the two-match series against New Zealand to be played from November 25- 29 in Kanpur, which follows a three-match series in the shortest format between the two teams. V Kohlii has been rested for the opening Test along with the white-ball matches, as he will return to lead the team in the second and final Test to be played at the Wankhede stadium in Mumbai in early December.
India have made plenty of changes to the Test side after a similar sort of treatment to the squad for the shortest format series. Opening batsman R Sharma, fast bowling pair of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami along with wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant have been rested. While Kohlii will miss the opening Test of the series in Kanpur, he will return to lead the team once again in the second and final match of the tour in Mumbai.
The last time India played Test cricket in England, Rahane’s position in the team was being scrutinised heavily following poor returns with the bat. The announcement that he will lead the team against New Zealand in the opening Test is certainly a show of confidence by selectors and the new incoming coach Rahul Dravid, who will be in-charge for his first assignment with the national team.
India have not yet announced their support staff following the exit of the coaching contingent led by Ravi Shastri, which included bowling coach Bharat Arun, fielding coach R Sridhar and batting coach Vikram Rathour, who has confirmed reapplying for the position.
The Indian national team selection panel led by former cricketer Chetan Sarma have also named Cheteshwar Pujara as a new vice captain in the absence of R Sharma from the Test series.
Squad for the New Zealand Tests
In the office of R Sharma, it is likely that KL Rahul and Mayank Agarwal will open the innings for India in the two matches, with talented young batsman Shubman Gill also in the fray. Pujara will continue to occupy the No 3 slot while there are other batsmen such as Shreyas Iyer, Rahane and even wicketkeeper-batsman KS Bharat in fray for the middle order. For the full-time wicket-keeping responsibilities, India are likely to hand over the charge to senior cricketer Wriddhiman Saha.
There were certainly a couple of surprise elections in the Indian side for the series which included Jayant Yadav and M Prasidh Krishna. Yadav last played Test cricket for India in the 2016-17 season and since then has been out of reckoning. On the other hand, Krishna has impressed one and all with his exploits in white-ball cricket while being a part of the Test side as a ‘nets bowler’ during the England tour.
India have a few more all-rounders in Ravindra Jadeja, spin bowling all-rounder Akshar Patel and Ravichandran Ashwin to select from. In the fast bowling department, there are Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Siraj as well.
Who missed out?
During the England tour in the middle of the year, India had sent an SOS message to the batting pair of Suryakumar Yadav and Prithvi Shaw who were touring Sri Lanka for a limited-overs series. While both did not get a chance to play in England, it indicated that the team was looking at them as backup batting options. However, both these names are missing from the squad to take on New Zealand.
While Shaw is bound to South Africa for a tour with India A team, Suryakumar will likely be resting or playing domestic cricket during this period having missed out on selection for either of the two tours. Amid all this, the biggest name which is missing is that of Hanuma Vihari, who has been away from action ever since he suffered a back injury during a stunning display of resilience and resistance at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG) in the Australia tour 2020-21.
Another name which certainly deserved to be contemplated for a selection is that of Saurashtra captain and left-arm fast bowler Jaydev Unadkat, who has been among the highest wicket-takers in the domestic circuit and is a seasoned campaigner across formats. Unadkat has also led Saurashtra to major titles and certainly deserved a look-in.
India’s Test squad against New Zealand: Ajinkya Rahane (c), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara (vc), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), KS Bharat (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akshar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, M Prasidh Krishna.
Devarchit Varma is a cricket writer and journalist with an experience of more than a decade, having worked at Hindustan Times (newspaper) and CricketCountry (website). Along with covering international and domestic cricket, he has also interviewed several current and former top players such as Rohit Sharma, Steve Smith, Dale Steyn, Michael Hussey, Jacques Kallis, Brendon McCullum, Shane Watson, Lasith Malinga and many more. He has also worked in other beats as a journalist in Bollywood (Reliance BigOye) and IT (SiliconIndia) industries.
Read All Articles >
