India’s Test squad tour for New Zealand will be led by Test specialist and vice-captain Jasprit Bumrah as specified by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The pool of 15 cricketers retains most players from the recent two-match series played against Bangladesh, which India won 2-0. Jasprit Bumrah’s appointment as the vice-captain would be particularly significant when plans for Rohit Sharma to skip at least one of the upcoming two-Test series against Australia later this year.
In the two-Test series against Bangladesh, BCCI never appointed any official vice-captain, making Bumrah’s new responsibility important for the team’s leadership. In recent years, Bumrah has become an important player in test cricket as well. However, he had the experience of captaining India in the delayed fifth test match against England at Edgbaston in July 2022. Even though India lost that match by seven wickets, the series ended up finishing level at 2-2.
The squad also allows the option of taking fast Bowler Mayank Yadav in the traveling reserves and Nitish Kumar Reddy, an all-rounder. Rana has been included among the reserves along with Prasidh Krishna, as it appears India plans to strengthen its pace bowlers for the series. They have said that Mayank Yadav is being observed closely, and many expect that he will be (selected) for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy series tour to Australia, where India will be playing five Test matches. The fast-bowling all-rounder Reddy is also in contention for a possible Test debut.
More conspicuous by his absence is Mohammed Shami, who continues from the right ankle injury that ruled him out of cricket since the final of the 2023 ICC Cricket World Cup. Shami does not match fitness because he had surgery in early of this year.
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