Team India keeper-batter Rishabh Pant was seen having fun during the practice sessions ahead of the opening Test against New Zealand, beginning on October 16 at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru. Pant was seen poking fun at Yashasvi Jaiswal and hitting a few crisp strokes while batting in the nets as he shared a clip on Instagram.
Pant made an excellent comeback to Test cricket during the preceding two-Test series against Bangladesh, hitting a century in the 2nd innings of the first game in Chennai. India registered a resounding win 2-0 win over Bangladesh to consolidate their top spot in the World Test Championship (WTC) points table.
Team India's next opponents New Zealand have an uphill task before them as they are coming off a crushing 2-0 series loss in Sri Lanka and are likely to have Kane Williamson out of the opening Test due to a groin strain.
India and New Zealand squads for Test series:
India squad: Rohit Sharma (C), Jasprit Bumrah (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep.
Reserves: Harshit Rana, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mayank Yadav and Prasidh Krishna
New Zealand squad: Tom Latham (capt), Tom Blundell (wk), Michael Bracewell (1st Test only), Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Will O'Rourke, Ajaz Patel, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ben Sears, Ish Sodhi (2nd and 3rd Test only), Tim Southee, Kane Williamson, Will Young.
