New Zealand A will take on India A in the first unofficial Test of the three-game series at Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln, starting on Saturday, October 24.
New Zealand A have Henry Nicholls as their only Test player, while the majority of other squad members have represented the national team in white-ball cricket. Meanwhile, India A have included Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Sai Sudharsan, Washington Sundar and Akash Deep in their squad, with Dhruv Jurel named captain.
NZ-A vs IND-A, Unofficial Test Series 2026, Match 1, Match Details
Match: New Zealand A vs India A, Unofficial Test Series 2026, Match 1
Time & Date: 3:00 AM IST, October 24 to 27
Venue: Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln
NZ-A vs IND-A, Unofficial Test Series 2026, Match 1 Probable XIs
New Zealand A
Nick Kelly, Tim Robinson, Dean Foxcroft, Henry Nicholls, Rhys Mariu, Mitchell Hay (wk), Kristian Clarke, Adithya Ashok, Ben Lister, Matt Fisher, Jayden Lennox
India A
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Smaran, Dhruv Jurel (c, wk), Washington Sundar, Akash Deep, Mukesh Kumar, Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi
NZ-A vs IND-A, Unofficial Test Series 2026, Match 1 Pitch Report
The Lincoln surface is expected to offer some assistance to pacers with the new ball. As the game progresses into the middle overs, batters could settle in and look to accelerate the scoring. It will be a good contest between bat and ball.
NZ-A vs IND-A, Unofficial Test Series 2026, Match 1 Top Picks
Mukesh Kumar
India A pacer Mukesh Kumar has been in excellent form, and we can expect him to do well in this fixture.
Ben Lister
New Zealand A pacer Ben Lister is expected to do well in the initial overs with the new ball in hand.
NZ-A vs IND-A, Unofficial Test Series 2026, Match 1 Captain picks
Devdutt Padikkal
Devdutt Padikkal, the India A batter, was in exceptional form on the recent Sri Lankan Test tour.
KL Rahul
KL Rahul, the veteran opening batter, is one of the consistent batters to watch out for in this fixture.
NZ-A vs IND-A, Unofficial Test Series 2026, Match 1 Head-to-head Dream11 team
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal (c), Ravichandran Smaran, Henry Nicholls, Mukesh Kumar, Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi, Ben Lister (vc), Matt Fisher
NZ-A vs IND-A, Unofficial Test Series 2026, Match 1 Grand League Dream11 team
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (c), Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Smaran, Henry Nicholls, Mukesh Kumar (vc), Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi, Ben Lister, Matt Fisher
