In an interesting turn of events, Indian ace pacer Jasprit Bumrah and Rishabh Pant are likely to play the third unofficial Test against New Zealand A, which will commence on Saturday, November 7, in Lincoln.
According to PTI, both are training at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru ahead of India’s assignments in New Zealand. Pant reached the CoE on Friday and Bumrah arrived on Monday.
“Bumrah’s CoE visit is to fulfil the obligatory return-to-play conditions for all players ahead of any series before he takes the flight to New Zealand on November 1,” the PTI report mentioned.
Bumrah last played for Team India in the Asian Games 2026 in Japan. He was rested for the home white-ball series against the West Indies and for the T20I and ODI matches on the ongoing New Zealand tour.
On the other hand, Pant was sidelined after suffering a side strain during the Irani Cup 2026. He had captained the Rest of India to a win over Jammu and Kashmir. However, Pant has resumed light training at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence. Interestingly, Jharkhand wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra came in for the first two matches against New Zealand A.
Kushagra was also named as cover for Ishan Kishan in the ongoing T20I series after Kishan sustained a right adductor strain. Notably, both Bumrah and Pant are part of India’s squad for the two-Test series against New Zealand.
India’s Test squad vs NZ: 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
Note: *Subject to fitness clearance
