The squad has been reduced to 15, with Yash Dayal, who was part of the Bangladesh Test Series but missed due to a shoulder injury.
The 15-man Team India roster for the forthcoming three-match Test series against New Zealand, which begins in Bengaluru on October 16, was announced by the BCCI on Friday. The team’s star bowler Jasprit Bumrah has been selected as Rohit Sharma’s deputy for the three-match series, although Sharma will still be leading it. Just one day after it was reported that Rohit could miss one of the first two Test matches against Australia for personal reasons, Bumrah was promoted to vice captain. Beginning in Perth on November 22, the Indian squad will play five Test matches in Australia. Rohit may skip the opening match in Adelaide (December 6–10) or the second match in Adelaide.
The article had stated that India A captain Abhimanyu Easwaran would likely provide Rohit’s backup at the top of the order if he did miss a game in Australia early on. In his absence, KL Rahul and Shubman Gill were the other contenders to lead India’s batting.
The article did not, however, specify who will serve as the Test team’s second captain, because Rohit did not have a formal deputy during the most recent home series against Bangladesh, which India won 2-0.
“There isn’t any complete clarity about the situation. It is understood that Rohit has intimated to the BCCI that there is a possibility that due to a pressing personal matter, he might have to skip one of the two Tests at the beginning of the series,” a source familiar with the matter told PTI on condition of anonymity
Bumrah has captained India before, most notably during a postponed Test match in England. But India had lost the match, and England had been able to tie the series. If Rohit does miss a Test match at the beginning of the tour, his ascension is a blatant sign that the star bowler may captain India in a match against Australia.
In contrast to the two-game rubber that was the Bangladesh series, India has added four players to its reserves list. The four-man list now includes bowler Mayank Yadav and all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy, who made their debuts in the T20I series against Bangladesh. The two reserves on the list are Prasidh Krishna and uncapped pacer Harshit Rana.
Here is full squad:
- Rohit sharma (c)
- Jasprit Bumrah (vc)
- Yashasvi Jaiswal
- Shubman Gill
- Virat Kohli
- Kl Rahul
- Sarfaraz Khan
- Rishabh Pant (wk)
- Dhruv Jurel (wk)
- R Ashwin
- Ravindra Jadeja
- Axar Patel
- Kuldeep Yadav
- Mohd. Siraj
- Akash Deep
