India Test Squad vs New Zealand: 3 Undeserving Players Who Bagged A Spot

India’s squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand was announced by BCCI on Friday. India’s regular skipper, Virat Kohli won’t be available for the first Test but will lead the team in the second game.

In his absence, Ajinkya Rahane will take up the leadership role. Cheteshwar Pujara, on the other hand, will assume vice-captaincy duties.

Notably, senior members of the squad such as Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, and Mohammad Shami have been rested in a bid to manage their workload. Their first choice-wicket keeper, Rishabh Pant too, has been rested. Wriddhiman Saha should don the wicket-keeping gloves in his absence.

Besides, KS Bharat, a seasoned campaigner in domestic cricket, has been added to the squad as a backup wicket-keeper. Who will open the innings alongside the KL Rahul remains to be seen. The likes of Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane will form the middle-order.

As for the bowling unit, Ishant Sharma will lead the attack, which also comprises the likes of Umesh Yadav, M Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna. Having said that, there are a few players who have been selected in the squad but perhaps didn’t deserve to make the cut. Here’s a look at three of those:

India Test Squad vs New Zealand: 3 Undeserving Players Who Bagged A Spot

1. Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer’s inclusion in the India’s Test squad has raised quite a few eyebrows. Iyer wasn’t part of the squad in the five-match Test series against England. And those who were (Suryakumar Yadav and Hanuma Vihari) have been left out.

Adding Iyer ahead of Suryakumar Yadav and Hanuma Vihari perhaps don’t make any sense. It won’t be wrong to say that Shreyas Iyer doesn’t deserve to get selected in the upcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand. Shreyas Iyer has been previously selected in India’s Test team but is yet to make his debut.

2. Jayant Yadav

Another surprise inclusion in the squad for the Test series is Jayant Yadav. India already had three finger-spinners in the squad such as Axar Patel, Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin. And, adding Jayant Yadav as the fourth one makes little sense.

Jayant Yadav played his last Test against Australia in Pune in 2017. He bowled 23 overs and finished with figures of 2 for 97. In total, he has played four Tests for India, picking 11 wickets at an average of 33.36.

3. Prasidh Krishna

Prasidh Krishna has received his maiden call-up in India’s Test team ahead of the two-match Test series against New Zealand. He will share the fast bowling duties along with the likes of Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, and M Siraj.

Krishna was also part of the reserves during India’s tour of England for a five-match Test series. However, with Avesh Khan in a much better form and also fit to play, one can argue that he should have been given the nod ahead of Prasidh Krishna. Both the bowlers are yet to make their debut in Test Cricket. However, selecting Krishna ahead of Avesh Khan is perhaps a bad choice.

Here’s India’s complete squad for the two-match Test series against New Zealand: 

Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara (vice-captain), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Md. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna

Virat Kohli will join the squad for the second Test and will lead the team.