The BCCI Selection Committee has named a 15-member team for the upcoming home test series against New Zealand. Rohit Sharma, as usual, will lead this team, and Jasprit Bumrah is appointed his deputy. Only Yash Dayal is an exception who doesn’t make it to the test squad for this series from the 15 names of the test squad of the recently concluded Bangladesh test series.
Once again, India’s bowling line-up was led by the experienced spin duo of Ravis-R Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja. Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, the other two spinners’ options, are equally threatening for the opposition.
The pace battery is led by Bumrah, Siraj, and Akash Deep; Yash Dayal, who was part of India’s test squad against Bangladesh, is not included in India’s pace attack for this series.
India’s batting line-up is the same as that has played against Bangladesh, with Rohit and Jaiswal playing as openers, while Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, and Sarfaraz Khan as middle-order batters. Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel will be two wicket-keeping options.
India’s Squad for the Test Series Against New Zealand
Rohit Sharma (c), Jasprit Bumrah (vc), Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sarfaraz Khan, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep
Traveling Reserves
Prasidh Krishna, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Harshit Rana, and Mayank Yadav
The first test match of the series will be played on October 16 in Bengaluru, with 2nd and 3rd matches scheduled for Pune and Mumbai, respectively.
This series is crucial for India considering their WTC Final 2025 qualification scenarios. Currently, India is on top of the WTC standings, while New Zealand is in sixth place.
