Seasoned pacer Mohd Shami, who had played the last Test against Bangladesh, failed to find a place in the Indian Test squad for the three-match series against New Zealand. The national selectors today decided to hand over the vice-captaincy to Jasprit Bumrah.
The selectors on Tuesday dropped left-arm pacer Yash Dayal from the squad that played the two-match series against Bangladesh, and have picked a 15-member squad, which will be led by Rohit Sharma.
Mohd Siraj and Akash Deep would provide sufficient backup to Bumrah, who has led the Indian team earlier. Shami suffered an injury during last year's ODI World Cup and underwent surgery after the event. Pretty apparent that the selectors are targeting a return for him in the Australia series.
The team is still spin-heavy as Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, and Kuldeep Yadav are all expected to feature in the three-playing XIs for the matches that will be held in Bengaluru, Pune, and Mumbai.
Interestingly, the selectors have not named a back-up opener; rather, Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal will shoulder the responsibility, as they did against Bangladesh. The wicketkeeping options in the side are Rishabh Pant and Dhruv Jurel.
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.
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