Highlights:
- Cheteshwar Pujara named vice-captain for Test series against New Zealand: Rahane
- Pujara’s form was disappointing during the tour of England, he was able to score only two half centuries in four Tests.
- Hanuma Vihari and Prithvi failed to make a place in the show team
In the absence of these two players, the dual responsibility of batting and team leadership will rest on Rahane and Pujara. Both the batsmen were criticized for their poor form in the Test series played in England. There were questions about the place of both in the team. While Pujara’s slow batting was heavily criticized by the people.
Pujara is a Test specialist but failed to score in England. He first scored 8 in the first innings and 13 in the second in the final of the World Test Championship against New Zealand at Southampton. India lost in the final.
He then went on to score only two half-centuries in four Tests in a five-Test series against England. He scored a total of 16 runs in the first Test. In the second Test, he scored 9 in the first innings and 54 in the second. In the third Test, he scored only one run in the first innings. However, in the second innings, he played an innings of 91 runs. He scored 4 and 61 in the fourth Test.
These star players will not be seen in the Test series
India have rested fast bowlers Jaspreet Bumrah and Mohammad Shamin in the two-Test series against New Zealand. The BCCI has not given any reason for that but they have been rested in view of their workload. While Rohit Sharma has also been rested keeping in view his workload. Virat Kohli has taken a break from the first Test and will join the team before the second Test.
Uncapped against famous Krishna and Shreyas Iyer
Shreyas Iyer has been included in the squad. He can bat in the fourth position of Virat Kohli. While Lokesh Rahul will come in the opening and in the absence of Rohit, Shubhaman Gill or Mayank Agarwal will open with him. In addition to the famous Krishna, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav and Mohammad Siraj are in the fast bowling attack.
Hanuma Vihari and Earth Show Out
The biggest surprise is not to include the better Hanuma Vihari of the middle order. Vihari last played in the Sydney Test in January. His match-saving batting on the final day was much appreciated. Apart from this, openers Prithvi Shaw, Suryakumar Yadav and Abhimanyu Ishwaran have also not been included in the squad.
The Indian Test team is as follows: Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), Cheteshwar Pujara (Vice Captain), Lokesh Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Shubhaman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Riddhiman Saha (Wicketkeeper), KS Bharat (Wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akshar Patel Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammad Siraj, famous Krishna.
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