Rahane to lead India in first Test against New Zealand

INDIA Test vice captain Ajinkya Rahane will lead India against New Zealand in the first of the two countries’ two-Test series starting later this month before regular captain Virat Kohli returns to take charge of the second game. The first match will be played in Kanpur (November 25-29) while the second will be played in Mumbai (December 3-7).

Besides Kohli, who will be rested for most part of the home series against the Kiwis, newly appointed T20 captain Rohit Sharma, wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant and pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Shami have also been rested as part of the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) workload-management policy.

India crashed out of the T20 World Cup currently being held in the UAE in the first round and many, including Bumrah and former national head coach Ravi Shastri blamed fatigue for the debacle.

“Virat Kohli will join the squad for the second Test and will lead the team,” BCCI secretary Jay Shah said in a statement. Middle-order batter Shreyas Iyer made a comeback in the Test squad along with off-spinner Jayant Yadav.

Rahane has led India in Tests on a number of occasions and registered some memorable wins, including the series victory in Australia earlier this year.

The Test series will be preceded by a three-match T20 series. India will play New Zealand in a Test match for the first time since they lost to the Black Caps in the final of the World Test Championship in England.

India’s Test squad for first Test: Ajinkya Rahane (captain), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Ravindra Jadeja, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ravichandran Ashwin, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Axar Patel, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.