India’s T20 captain for the New Zealand series, Rohit Sharma, will not be available for the two-match Test series due to workload management. India will already be without Virat Kohli, Test and ODI captain, in the first red-ball game against the Kiwis.
In such a situation, the responsibility of captaincy in the first Test is all set to go to Ajinkya Rahane, according to Times of India.
The decision is understood to have been taken on Thursday after analysing Rohit’s workload. The report further added that the likes of Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Rishabh Pant and Shardul Thakur are set to miss the two Tests against Kane Williamson’s side too.
Rahane’s form in recent months has been under the scanner, but the newspaper reported that, the BCCI wasn’t very keen on making too many changes at one shot.
With Pant set for a rest, veteran Wriddhiman Saha is likely to step up and don the big gloves while either of Shubman Gill or Mayank Agarwal could slot in next to KL Rahul as opener.
The Indian team will have new set of backroom staff from the New Zealand series onwards as Rahul Dravid takes over the mantle of coach from Ravi Shastri.
The first Test begins on 25 November in Kanpur while the second begins on 3 December in Mumbai.
While India returned from the men’s T20 World Cup after exiting before the semi-finals, New Zealand meanwhile are in the final. It is their third ICC tournament final since the 2019 ODI World Cup and then the World Test Championship final. New Zealand had beaten India in Southampton in the WTC Final in June.
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