Rishabh Pant has been ruled out of the first two matches for the India A tour of New Zealand. The wicketkeeper-batter suffered a left-side strain while captaining the Rest of India in the Irani Cup.
He was included in the squad for the New Zealand tour, but his availability was subject to fitness. The BCCI confirmed that Pant is recovering well under the watchful eyes of the medical team, and his availability for the third match will be taken at a later stage.
The BCCI also named Rishabh Pant’s replacement and added wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra to the India squad.
“Rishabh Pant, whose availability for the India A tour of New Zealand was subject to fitness, has been ruled out of the first two matches. The wicketkeeper-batter had sustained a left-side strain while leading Rest of India in the Irani Cup. He remains under the care of the BCCI Medical Team and is recovering well. A decision on his availability for the third match will be taken at a later stage,” said in a release.
“The Men’s Selection Committee has named Kumar Kushagra as Pant’s replacement for the first two matches,” it added.
The India A team is set to play three four-day unofficial Tests on the New Zealand tour from October 24. The three matches will be followed by a two World Test Championship matches against New Zealand. The India A matches will be used by the Test stalwarts to get used to the conditions. With Pant being one of the mainstays of the Test side, missing the first two games is a massive setback for him and India.
India A’s updated squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Smaran, Dhruv Jurel [CWK], Washington Sundar, Auqib Nabi, Akash Deep, Anshul Kamboj, Manav Suthar, Mukesh Choudhary, Sai Sudharsan, Yash Rathod, Mukesh Kumar, Kumar Kushagra [WK] (1st and 2nd matches).