Ajinkya Rahane To Lead Indian Test Team In Virat Kohli's Absence For NZ Series. Rohit, Bumrah Rested | Check Full Squad

IND Vs NZ Test: Virat Kohli will join the team from the second Test match, while Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, and Jasprit Bumrah have been rested from India's home Test series against New Zealand.

Image: AFP

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced India's squad for the upcoming home Test series. Ajinkya Rahane has been named the captain for the first Test match that is scheduled to be played in Green Park Stadium, Kanpur. 

Virat Kohli will join the team from the second Test match, while Rohit Sharma, Rishabh Pant, and Jasprit Bumrah have been rested from India's home Test series against New Zealand

Cheteshwar Pujara has been named the vice-captain for the series. 

Here is the full squad:

#TeamIndia squad for NZ Tests:

A Rahane (C), C Pujara (VC), KL Rahul, M Agarwal, S Gill, S Iyer, W Saha (WK), KS Bharat (WK), R Jadeja, R Ashwin, A Patel, J Yadav, I Sharma, U Yadav, Md Siraj, P Krishna

*Virat Kohli will join the squad for the 2nd Test and will lead the team. pic.twitter.com/FqU7xdHpjQ

— BCCI (@BCCI) November 12, 2021

A Rahane (C), C Pujara (VC), KL Rahul, M Agarwal, S Gill, S Iyer, W Saha (WK), KS Bharat (WK), R Jadeja, R Ashwin, A Patel, J Yadav, I Sharma, U Yadav, Md Siraj, P Krishna

Ajinkya Rahane was India's captain in the away series against Australia in 2020-21. India won that series in the absence of many first-team players like Virat Kohli.

Rahane has been more successful on foreign pitches than on Indian ones. Rahane's Test average in India is 36, while on foreign pitches he scores runs at an average of 44.