IND vs NZ Test Series: Ajinkya Rahane to lead in Kohli’s absence – Ajinkya Rahane has been appointed as the captain for the first Test and Cheteshwar Pujara as his deputy. Virat Kohli has been rested for the 1st Test while Rohit Sharma will take a break after the T20I series as the selectors announced the Test squad for the New Zealand series that starts on November 25 in Kanpur. Follow INDIA vs New Zealand Series LIVE Updates on InsideSport.in
Rohit Sharma to rest: Along with the head-coach Rahul Dravid, selectors have decided that to manage Rohit Sharma’s workload, it is best to rest him for the entire Test series.
That is the reason, in Kohli & Rohit’s absence, Rahane will lead in the first Test and if the regular skipper is not back, the Mumbaikar will be the captain of the whole series. After T20 World Cup snub, Shreyas Iyer has been awarded a place in the Test squad for the first time along with Prasidh Krishna. Jayant Yadav has earned a call back as well.
IND vs NZ Test: Ajinkya Rahane to lead in 1st Test, Pujara appointed as his deputy, Kohli to return for 2nd Test – Follow LIVE Updates
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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
IND vs NZ Test: Ajinkya Rahane to lead in 1st Test, Pujara appointed as his deputy, Kohli to return for 2nd Test – Follow LIVE Updates
IND vs NZ Test Series: Rahane Gets Test Lifeline: Rohit & Virat’s absence will give Rahane TEST LIFELINE. The Indian vice-captain has been struggling for runs since registering historic victory in Australia. Post the test in Melbourne, his batting fortunes have completely dwindled. His place in the XI has become questionable.
Since Melbourne Test in Dec 2020
- Ajinkya Rahane – 11 Tests / 372 Runs / 19.57 Average / 0 Hundred
- Rohit Sharma – 11 Tests / 906 Runs / 48 Average / 2 Hundreds
If Kohli agrees to comeback in the Mumbai Test (2nd Test of the series), he will lead the side.
Which other players are likely to rest for 2 Test Series vs New Zealand? As reported by InsideSport, the pace trio of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami & Shardul Thakur have been rested for the series along with Wicket-Keeper batsman Rishabh Pant.
All these players are continuously on the move and are non-stop staying in a bio-bubble. Selectors will give them a break and will bring in a completely new-look pace attack for the NZ Test Series headed by Ishant Sharma.
Wriddhiman Saha is all set to don the gloves while KS Bharat will be the second-choice ’wicket-keeper’ in the Test series.
BCCI allowing players to go home before IND VS NZ Series
- Meanwhile BCCI has allowed players coming in from T20 World Cup to go home and reassemble in Jaipur on 14th November. The first match of the series will be played on 17th Nov.
- Players will only have to do three-day quarantine.
- After series vs New Zealand, India will tour South Africa for long two month tour in December & January. India will play the West Indies & Sri Lanka at home afte
India’s T20I squad vs NZ Series: Meanwhile Selectors earlier on Tuesday have already announced India’s T20 Squad for 3 match series against the Kiwis.
Rohit Sharma (Captain), KL Rahul (Vice-Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper), Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Venkatesh Iyer, Yuzvendra Chahal, R Ashwin, Axar Patel, Avesh Khan, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Deepak Chahar, Harshal Patel, Mohd. Siraj
| NEW ZEALAND TOUR OF INDIA I 2021-22 | |||
| Day | Date | Match | Venue |
| Wednesday | 17th Nov 2021 | 1st T20I | Jaipur |
| Friday | 19th Nov 2021 | 2nd T20I | Ranchi |
| Sunday | 21st Nov 2021 | 3rd T20I | Kolkata |
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