After suffering a left-side strain while captaining the Rest of India in the Irani Cup, wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant will miss the first two games of India A’s tour of New Zealand. For those two games, Kumar Kushagra has been designated as his replacement.
Pant was part of the India A team that the Men’s Selection Committee first revealed on October 6, 2026. The BCCI confirmed that Kushagra will take over wicketkeeping duties for the first two multi-day matches after the injury, while Dhruv Jurel will remain the team’s captain.
India A is slated to play New Zealand A in three multi-day games. The first takes place in Lincoln from October 24 to 27; the second takes place in Christchurch from October 31 to November 3; and the third takes place in Lincoln from November 7 to 10.
To what extent has Rishabh Pant been injured?
While leading the Rest of India in the Irani Cup, Pant developed the left-side strain. He is currently being treated by the board’s medical staff, and the BCCI confirmed that he is making good progress. There have been no precise details released regarding the strain’s severity.
Pant’s suitability for participation in the third India A match is planned for November 7–10 in Lincoln; it will be played later. Therefore, his availability for that fixture is still open.
Given his dual role as a wicketkeeper and batsman, Kushagra was chosen by the selection committee as a like-for-like replacement for Pant, who was unavailable for the first two games. He is listed in the squad as the designated wicketkeeper for the Lincoln and Christchurch matches, and he joins the team specifically for those two games.
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Throughout the tour, the India A team has been captained by wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel. Other than that, the team is still the same as it was first revealed on October 6, 2026, and it includes both younger and more seasoned domestic performers.
For the multi-day series against New Zealand, India’s entire squad
In the first and second matches, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Smaran, Dhruv Jurel (C) (WK), Washington Sundar, Auqib Nabi, Akash Deep, Anshul Kamboj, Manav Suthar, Mukesh Choudhary, Sai Sudharsan, Yash Rathod, Mukesh Kumar, and Kumar Kushagra (WK).
