Star Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant failed to clear the first fitness test at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on Sunday (November 1), and it has been reported that he will undergo a second fitness test in the coming days to prove his fitness before flying to New Zealand for the two-match Test series.
The first Test of two-match series between India and New Zealand is scheduled to start at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on November 19.
Pant suffered a side strain while playing for Rest of India in the Irani Cup against Jammu and Kashmir last month in Srinagar, and he has been out of action since then.
According to a report in Cricinfo, Pant, who has been at the CoE since October 23, has started batting and keeping, and the BCCI
medical staff will arrange another fitness test in the coming days before clearing him to travel to New Zealand.
If Pant clears the second fitness test, he is expected to play the third unofficial Test between India A and New Zealand A in Lincoln from November 7 to 10.
Pant was picked for all three unofficial Tests against New Zealand A by the BCCI selectors, but he was later ruled out of the first two fixtures due to fitness-related issues. Jharkhand wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra was named as Pant’s replacement for the first two red-ball matches, but he did not feature in the playing XI.
If Pant fails to clear the second fitness test as well, then there will be question marks over his availability for the Test series in New Zealand. In Pant’s absence, Dhruv Jurel, who is leading India A, will be India’s designated wicketkeeper-batter for the Test series.
Meanwhile, it has been reported that Jasprit Bumrah will play for India A in the third unofficial Test against New Zealand A. Bumrah, who is India’s second-highest wicket-taker in World Test Championship (WTC), hasn’t played a red-ball match since November 2025. He was rested for the one-off Test against Afghanistan in June 2026 and was unavailable due to injury for the two-match Test series against Sri Lanka in August 2026.
