Ajinkya Rahane will lead India in the first Test against New Zealand in Kanpur, the BCCI announced on Friday. Rahane’s deputy will be Cheteshwar Pujara, the BCCI confirmed.
India’s regular Test captain Virat Kohli will return for the second Test in Mumbai while Rohit Sharma has been rested for both the Tests.
The NZ home series not only kick starts the home season but also marks a new era as Rahul Dravid takes over as coach from Ravi Shastri.
With Rohit unavailable, India have brought back Mayank Agarwal, and either he or Shubman Gill are likely to open the batting with KL Rahul. Gill could also take up a slot in the middle-order. Shreyas Iyer, who is yet to make his Test debut is also in the mix for a middle-order slot.
Rishabh Pant has also been rested with Wriddhiman Saha and KS Bharat as added to the squad as the wicket-keepers. Andhra's Bharat has scored 4283 runs from 78 matches, with nine hundreds which includes a 308 against Goa in February 2015, which was the first triple century by a wicketkeeper-batter in the Ranji Trophy.
The selection committee have also given the likes of Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami some much-needed time-off.
India's pacers for the Test series include Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna, who is yet to make his red-ball debut but was with the Indian squad on the tour of England.
Among the spinners, R Ashwin and Axar Patel are part of the set-up while Jayant Yadav too has been recalled after having playing his last Test in 2017 against Australia in Pune.
Ace all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja too is part of the squad. However, a surprising omission is Hanuma Vihari, who's last appearance in India colours was in Sydney, where he and Ashwin batted through in immense pain to thwart Australia's bowlers.
However, BCCI later added Vihari to the India 'A' squad for the South Africa tour. The batsman, who is currently playing the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy T20s for Hyderabad, last played a Test in Sydney in January.
Meanwhile, Suryakumar Yadav, Prithvi Shaw, and Abhimanyu Easwaran, who were all part of the subsequent Test series, against England, have been left out from the 16-member list, along with Shardul Thakur, who will be out of action from the preceding T20Is as well.
The first Test will begin on 25 November at Green Park, Kanpur. The New Zealand tour of India will then conclude after the 2nd Test at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai from 3 December.
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
Virat Kohli to return in the second Test.
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