Rishabh Pant has been ruled out of the first two unofficial Tests between India A and New Zealand A after failing to recover from a left-side strain sustained during the Irani Cup, with Kumar Kushagra named as his replacement, the BCCI announced.
Pant had been picked in the India A squad for the Test series against New Zealand A subject to fitness, having suffered the side strain while captaining the Rest of India squad in the Irani Cup. The left-handed batter failed to recover in time and will remain sidelined for at least the first two matches of the series.
Kushagra steps in
The men's selection committee named Kumar Kushagra as Pant's replacement for the first two matches. Kushagra earned the call-up after an impressive run in recent matches, including hundreds in the Duleep Trophy final and the India A versus Australia A fixture. He is one of four uncapped players in the team, alongside Smaran Ravichandran, Vidarbha batter Yash Rathod and left-arm seamer Mukesh Choudhary.
"He remains under the care of the BCCI Medical Team and is recovering well. A decision on his availability for the third match will be taken at a later stage," the BCCI said in its release.
Jurel to lead in Pant's absence
Pant was supposed to captain India A, but Dhruv Jurel will take over the reins of the team in his absence. The squad also features senior players including Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Devdutt Padikkal and Sai Sudharsan.
There is a strong chance that Rahul, Jaiswal and Sundar will not feature in the second and third matches because of a scheduling conflict with the ODI series between the senior teams of India and New Zealand. The first A-team fixture will be played from October 24 to 28 in Lincoln, the second from October 31 to November 3, and the third from November 7 to 10 in Lincoln, while the first three ODIs are scheduled for November 4, 7 and 10.
Sources:
- Rishabh Pant to miss first two unofficial Tests; Kumar Kushagra named as replacement — ETV Bharat
Pant had been picked in the India A squad for the Test series against New Zealand A subject to fitness, having suffered the side strain while captaining the Rest of India squad in the Irani Cup. The left-handed batter failed to recover in time and will remain sidelined for at least the first two matches of the series.
Kushagra steps in
The men's selection committee named Kumar Kushagra as Pant's replacement for the first two matches. Kushagra earned the call-up after an impressive run in recent matches, including hundreds in the Duleep Trophy final and the India A versus Australia A fixture. He is one of four uncapped players in the team, alongside Smaran Ravichandran, Vidarbha batter Yash Rathod and left-arm seamer Mukesh Choudhary.
"He remains under the care of the BCCI Medical Team and is recovering well. A decision on his availability for the third match will be taken at a later stage," the BCCI said in its release.
Jurel to lead in Pant's absence
Pant was supposed to captain India A, but Dhruv Jurel will take over the reins of the team in his absence. The squad also features senior players including Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Washington Sundar, Devdutt Padikkal and Sai Sudharsan.
There is a strong chance that Rahul, Jaiswal and Sundar will not feature in the second and third matches because of a scheduling conflict with the ODI series between the senior teams of India and New Zealand. The first A-team fixture will be played from October 24 to 28 in Lincoln, the second from October 31 to November 3, and the third from November 7 to 10 in Lincoln, while the first three ODIs are scheduled for November 4, 7 and 10.
Sources:
- Rishabh Pant to miss first two unofficial Tests; Kumar Kushagra named as replacement — ETV Bharat
