New Delhi: India’s new T20I captain Rohit Sharma will not be part of the two-Test series against New Zealand, starting November 25 at Green Park, Kanpur, according to a report in Times of India. Keeping Rohit’s continuous workload in mind, the national selection committee on Thursday took the decision to rest the experienced batter for the longer format. With regular skipper Virat Kohli already rested for the T20I series versus the BlackCaps, Ajinkya Rahane is set to lead Team India in the first Test in Kanpur.
India’s Test regulars – Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Shami, Rishabh Pant and Shardul Thakur will also not be part of the Test squad for the New Zealand series. “There was a lengthy discussion on the stand-in captain after Kohli had asked for rest in the first Test. There was a proposal to give Rohit the captaincy in the first Test and then give him rest for the second match in Mumbai,” the TOI report mentioned.
With Pant likely to be rested, it will open the door for Wriddhiman Saha who stills remains the best wicket-keeper in the country. With Rohit likely to miss the Test series, Shubman Gill will be an automatic choice to take up that spot with KL Rahul as the other opener.
Hanuma Vihari is likely to feature in both the Tests against New Zealand in a middle-order which will also have Rahane and in all probability Mayank Agarwal in Kohli and Pant’s absence.
The first Test is scheduled to start on the 25th of November at Green Park, Kanpur while the second Test will be played at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai from the 3rd of December.