Team India will begin a three-match Test series against New Zealand at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Wednesday (October 16). Rohit Sharma’s side suffered a big blow with premier batter Shubman Gill, who is Team India’s current No. 3, is in doubt for the first match after struggling with a stiff neck.
A final call on Gill’s availability will only be taken on the morning of Day 1. The Gujarat Titans captain was in fine form in the two-match Test series against Bangladesh last month.
Gill scored an impressive 119 in the second innings of the first Test in Chennai and then followed it up with a rapid 39 in the first-innings of the rain-hit second Test in Kanpur.
If Gill does fail to recover from the stiff neck, Mumbai batter Sarfaraz Khan could be the one to replace him. The former Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) batter knows the conditions in Bengaluru well, having spent some time here during IPL.
Gill has scored 662 runs in Test cricket in 2024 in 8 Tests with three centuries and 2 fifties to his name.
Shubman Gill’s availability for the first Test against New Zealand will be made tomorrow due to a stiff neck. (RevSportz). pic.twitter.com/0irh0Su9K5
— Tanuj Singh (@ImTanujSingh) October 15, 2024
Sarfaraz is also in fine form, having scored a double century which helped Mumbai win the Irani Cup 2024 earlier this month against the Rest of India side. The young batter made an impressive start to his Test career against England this year but has been left out of the playing 11 with the return of KL Rahul to the side.
India captain Rohit Sharma also hinted that all-rounder Nitish Reddy and pace sensation Mayank Yadav could be in line for debut in Test cricket. Both Reddy and Mayank made impressive start to their T20 career in India’s 3-0 win over Bangladesh in T20I series last week.
“I understand they (Nitish and Mayank) have not played that much. We want to create bench strength. If we want to fast track someone, we want to fast track them,” Rohit Sharma told reporters on the eve of the first Test in Bengaluru.
“If someone gets injured, we want them to step in. Nice to have them around, have a chat, and see how they see Test cricket. It’s important to try and build them gradually. Trying to monitor them and what they can offer,” Rohit added.
India: Rohit Sharma (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill/Sarfaraz Khan, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja/Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Akash Deep/Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj
New Zealand: Tom Latham, Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (wk), Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner, Tim Southee (c), Ajaz Patel, Matt Henry
