New Delhi, Oct 16 (PTI) Pacers Akash Deep and Anshul Kamboj on Friday made a comeback to the India squad for the two-Test series in New Zealand while Shreyas Iyer was named captain of the ODI side for the last two games with regular skipper Shubman Gill shifting focus to red-ball cricket.
Akash Deep recently returned to action after recovering from a lower-back stress fracture. The right-arm pacer last played in the 2025 tour of England where he was impressive. Kamboj was dropped from the side after making a forgettable debut in Manchester on the same tour last year.
Both the fast bowlers are also part of the India A squad that would play three multi-day games against New Zealand A ahead of the Test series. The Indian think tank is backing the duo to do well in New Zealand conditions.
Gurnoor Brar, who has done well of late, did not find a place in the Test squad. Rishabh Pant has been included in the squad subject to fitness as he continues his recovery from a left rib injury.
Leader of the pace attack, Jasprit Bumrah, will only be part of the Test series on the all-format tour of New Zealand. The team management and selectors are managing his workload with India scheduled to play five Tests against Australia at home early next year.
A knee injury ruled Bumrah out of India’s previous Test assignment in Sri Lanka in August. However, he made his comeback with the T20 format and was part of the team that won the Asian Games gold in Japan earlier this month.
It has been learned that he will soon report to the Centre of Excellence with the focus on building his workload for the longest format.
Shreyas Iyer to lead in last two ODIs, Kumar Kushagra earns maiden call-up
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Shreyas Iyer will lead the squad in the last two ODIs of the five-match series in New Zealand with regular captain Shubman Gill shifting focus to red-ball cricket ahead of the Test series.
The Test series will be played from November 19 and will be preceded by the ODI starting on November 4.
The other ODI regular who will prioritise the red-ball format after the third game is K L Rahul.
Tilak Varma, who last played 50-over cricket in December 2025, returns to the ODI side.
Wicket-keeper Kumar Kushagra has earned his maiden India call up with a spot in the ODI team for the last two games.
Veteran Ravindra Jadeja has been left out of the ODI side.
In total, India play five T20s, as many ODIs and two Test on the New Zealand tour.
India’s ODI squad for the first three ODIs: Shubman Gill (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer (vc), KL Rahul (wk), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Anshul Kamboj, Gurnoor Brar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Arshdeep Singh, Ishan Kishan (wk), Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna*, Kuldeep Yadav.
India’s ODI squad for fourth and fifth ODIs: Shreyas Iyer (c), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan (wk, vc), Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Auqib Nabi, Gurnoor Brar, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Arshdeep Singh, Kumar Kushagra (wk), Mohammed Siraj, Yash Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav.
India’s Test squad: Shubman Gill (c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (vc), Devdutt Padikkal, Rishabh Pant (wk)*, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Anshul Kamboj, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj.
*Subject to fitness clearance. PTI BS AM
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