Mumbai, Oct 11
Seasoned pacer Mohd Shami failed to find a place in the Indian Test squad for the upcoming three-match series against New Zealand with the national selectors deciding to hand over the vice-captaincy to Jasprit Bumrah.
The selectors dropped left-arm pacer Yash Dayal from the squad that played the two-match series against Bangladesh as they picked a 15-member squad which Rohit Sharma will lead.
"The Men's Selection Committee has picked India's 15-member squad for the upcoming three-match IDFC FIRST Bank Test series against New Zealand," BCCI secretary Jay Shah informed in a release on Friday.
Bumrah, who has led the Indian team earlier, will get sufficient support from Mohd Siraj and Akash Deep. Shami suffered an injury during last year's ODI World Cup and had undergone surgery after the event. It is apparent that the selectors are targeting a return for the Australia series for him. The rest of the batters remain the same as against Bangladesh with Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Sarfaraz Khan being continued,
The squad remains spin-heavy with Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav hoping to get into the three-pronged attack in the Playing XIs for the three matches that will be played in Bengaluru, Pune and Mumbai.
Interestingly, the selectors also did not pick a backup opener with Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal set to take up the responsibility as they did against Bangladesh. Shubman Gill will likely continue to bat at No.3 like he did against Bangladesh. Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel are the wicketkeeping options in the squad.
India are currently on top of the World Test Championships (WTC) standings while New Zealand, title-winners in 2021, are in sixth position. Rohit Sharma's side will be looking forward to consolidating its position in the WTC standings ahead of the all-important tour of Australia starting in December-January. India hopes to reach the WTC final for the third time after losing to New Zealand and Australia on the two previous occasions. The series against New Zealand will be very crucial in that respect.
India's squad for the three Tests against New Zealand:
Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep.
Travelling Reserves: Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mayank Yadav and Prasidh Krishna