Pant out of India A squad for first 2 New Zealand matches, Kushagra replaces him

Rishabh Pant was on Monday ruled out of the India A squad for the first 2 matches in the New Zealand tour due to injury, the BCCI said in a statement. Wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra will replace him while a decision on Pant's availability for the third match will be taken at a later stage, the board said in a statement.

Pant, who was leading the Rest of India squad in the Irani Cup, sustained a left-side strain and has been ruled out of the first two matches. The wicketkeeper-batter, whose availability for the tour was subject to fitness, remains under the care of the BCCI medical team and is recovering well.

This is another blow for Pant after his snub from India's ODI team which recently played against West Indies. Even with several regulars unavailable for the three-match series, the wicketkeeper-batsman had been overlooked again. Shreyas Iyer, Ishan Kishan and Axar Patel were all unavailable for the ODIs, leaving India without several players who'd normally make their ODI XI. Their absence still did not open a way back for Pant in the 50-over format, where he has been out of contention for close to 2 years.

Pant last played an ODI against Sri Lanka in August 2024, his only chance that series, with KL Rahul preferred as wicketkeeper. Since then, he's remained central to India's Test side, but has slipped down the 50-over pecking order.

India A will be led by Dhruv Jurel, who will also take up the wicketkeeping duties. The squad includes senior players Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul and Washington Sundar, along with Devdutt Padikkal and Sai Sudharsan.

India A squad: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Smaran, Dhruv Jurel (captain and wicketkeeper), Washington Sundar, Auqib Nabi, Akash Deep, Anshul Kamboj, Manav Suthar, Mukesh Choudhary, Sai Sudharsan, Yash Rathod, Mukesh Kumar and Kumar Kushagra (first and second matches).