Pant set to miss third India A fixture; Bumrah, Jadeja join squad

Rishabh Pant is set to miss the third India A fixture against New Zealand A in Lincoln starting Saturday as he continues to recover from a side strain. Pant is in rehab at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, casting doubt over his availability for the upcoming two-Test series against New Zealand, which begins on November 19 at the Basin Reserve in Wellington.

Among the Test specialists, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravindra Jadeja are both set to feature in the match as part of their preparation for the Tests, while T20I vice-captain Tilak Varma has joined the India A squad in Lincoln as a replacement for Pant. Bumrah has trained with the squad for two days since his arrival in the country, while Jadeja comes into the series on the back of two Ranji Trophy outings for Saurashtra, in which he claimed a combined seven wickets and scored a century.

Dhruv Jurel will continue to lead the India A squad that will also have in their ranks Nitish Kumar Reddy, the seam-bowling allrounder, who until Wednesday was part of India's ODI squad. Jurel is likely to keep wicket should Pant not recover in time for the two-Test series against New Zealand.

Prasidh Krishna, meanwhile, is also likely to feature in the A fixture as he looks to regain match fitness after spending the past three weeks undergoing rehabilitation for a hamstring strain. Prasidh was cleared to play all formats, but wasn't rushed back into the ODI squad in order to keep him fit for the Tests. He was replaced in the ODI squad by Jammu & Kashmir seamer Auqib Nabi, who would've otherwise featured in the third India A fixture.

Cricinfo understands that Mohammed Siraj has joined the ODI squad in Wellington ahead of Saturday's fixture after missing the series opener in Auckland. Siraj was rested after having taken part in the drawn second unofficial Test at Hagley Oval in Christchurch, where he picked up 4 for 118 across 35 overs in the only innings he bowled.

India's Test and ODI captain Shubman Gill won't feature in the red-ball game as speculated, given it clashes with the second and third ODIs. Gill will, however, leave the ODI squad after the third ODI in Hamilton to prepare for the Tests.

This is India's first Test series in New Zealand since 2020. They were beaten 2-0 on the previous tour, just before the Covid-19 pandemic. Only Gill, Bumrah, Pant and Jadeja from that squad have been named for the current series.

India have little wiggle room in terms of their own standings on the World Test Championship table, having to ideally win both matches in order to fancy their chances of making the final in June 2027.