Ajinkya Rahane will be leading India in the first of the two Tests at home against New Zealand in the absence of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, stated a report by Times of India.
While India are yet to formally announce their squad for the two WTC fixtures in Kanpur and Mumbai, TOI reported, regular skipper Kohli has asked for rest for the opening game and Rohit will be skipping the short two-match series entirely.
Both the senior men have been on the road for a long time now and are hoping to freshen up before the marquee tour of South Africa. Kohli will return for the second Test in Mumbai, starting December 3.
But his absence for the Kanpur Test, starting November 25, has reportedly given Rahane another opportunity to lead the Indian side in Test cricket. The longstanding middle-order bat and vice-captain has an incredibly rich CV as a stand-in captain.
Under Rahane, India historically won the Test series in Australia 2-1 earlier this year, coming back remarkably from being 1-0 down despite missing multiple first-choice players, including Kohli who led the first Test in Adelaide before going on paternity leave.
Apart from Rohit, experienced quicks Mohammad Shami and Jasprit Bumrah, already rested from the T20I leg of the Kiwi series after the T20 World Cup, could also be missing the Tests ahead of the full tour of South Africa. Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant could be another major absentee.
In absence of Rohit, one of Shubman Gill or Mayank Agarwal is likely to partner with KL Rahul at the top. In the pace department, the absence of Shami and Bumrah, would open up a great opportunity for the likes of Mohammed Siraj and Umesh Yadav.
In the middle-order, Kohli’s absence for the first Test would leave a dilemma for the selectors, whether to give the nod to Hanuma Vihari or push Gill down the order and see how he copes up.
For Pant, the selectors and the new team management under head coach Rahul Dravid are likely to give the experienced Wriddhiman Saha a go in the playing XI for the first time since December last year. KS Bharat may also have an outside chance of making his Test debut for India.
A final Indian squad is expected to be out in the coming days.
