Pacer Jasprit Bumrah and wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant are both reportedly set to make their respective red-ball comebacks in the third and final match of the unofficial Test series between India A and New Zealand A at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln, which begins on November 7. According to Cricinfo, Pant will still require a final fitness clearance from the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) medical team.
The report said both Bumrah and Pant are currently at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru, having arrived on Monday and Friday, respectively. Bumrah missed India’s last series against Sri Lanka due to an impact injury but was in action in recent white-ball matches. His workload is being carefully managed, and the latest CoE stint
is said to be part of the usual return-to-play processes before he travels to New Zealand.
Pant, meanwhile, is still recovering from the side strain he suffered during the Irani Cup while leading Rest of India to victory against Jammu & Kashmir in early October. He subsequently missed the initial rounds of the Ranji Trophy and the first two India A games in New Zealand.
Both Pant and Bumrah are part of the Test squad for the series against the Kiwis and will be crucial to India’s success.
India’s Test squad for New Zealand: Shubman Gill [C], Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul [VC], Devdutt Padikkal, Rishabh Pant [WK]*, Dhruv Jurel [WK], Ravindra Jadeja, Anshul Kamboj, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj
