Following the defeat of India in the first Test against New Zealand played at Bengaluru, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has made a change for the Indian squad for the rest of the series.
Washington Sundar, a spin-bowling all-rounder, has been added to the Indian team for the upcoming matches against New Zealand. Sundar will join the team in Pune before the start of the second match.
The 25 year old all rounder was last seen in action in the Test match against England in Ahmedabad in March 2021. Off late he has regained his batting form, scoring 152 runs for Tamil Nadu in their ongoing Ranji Trophy match against hundred Delhi at Arun Jaitley Stadium. Also, he took two wickets with the ball up to this point.
It is notably surprising though that another spin-bowling all-rounder is being brought into the squad to help improve the WTC points position as the team already has Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin.
As Rishabh Pant is uncertain to take part in the second Test, India might think about including Sundar instead of Kuldeep Yadav in order to add some batting strength to the team.
The BCCI has not yet updated Pant’s condition and he is yet to be considered for selection for the forthcoming matches.
India will look to bounce back to their winning ways after suffering an eight-wicket loss to the Kiwis in Bengaluru. With the series as well as WTC points coming into contention, the Indian team has to get back to their optimal level of performance in order to have some positive hopes to carry into their series with Australia later in November this year.
India’s updated squad for the second and third Test against New Zealand: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Washington Sundar.
