Rishabh Pant ruled out of India A’s first two New Zealand tour matches; Kumar Kushagra called up

Rishabh Pant has been ruled out of the first two matches of India A’s multi-day tour of New Zealand after sustaining a left-side strain while leading Rest of India in the Irani Cup in September, the BCCI confirmed on Monday. Kumar Kushagra has been named as Pant’s replacement for those two fixtures.

Pant had been selected for the tour subject to fitness and “remains under the care of the BCCI Medical Team and is recovering well. A decision on his availability for the third match will be taken at a later stage,” the BCCI said. The development has prompted questions over his availability for India’s forthcoming two-Test series in New Zealand, scheduled to begin on November 19 and conclude on December 1, though the BCCI has not announced the senior Test squad and there is no confirmation that Pant will miss that series.

Kumar Kushagra, a 21-year-old wicketkeeper-batter from Jharkhand, has been named to cover the wicketkeeping role for the first two matches. Kushagra is described in BCCI communications as making an impact in domestic cricket and was identified as the replacement specifically for the opening pair of games.

Kushagra’s recent form includes a century in the Duleep Trophy final against South Zone in Chennai, during which East Zone secured what the source describes as a historic triumph. He then scored a century and an unbeaten 46 for India A against Australia A in a four-day match in Puducherry in September.

Dhruv Jurel will continue as captain of the India A squad, with Kushagra intended to provide a reserve option behind the stumps. The published India A squad list names Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Smaran, Dhruv Jurel [C] [WK], Washington Sundar, Auqib Nabi, Akash Deep, Anshul Kamboj, Manav Suthar, Mukesh Choudhary, Sai Sudharsan, Yash Rathod, Mukesh Kumar and Kumar Kushagra [WK] (1st and 2nd matches).

India A are scheduled to play three multi-day matches against New Zealand A from October 24 to November 10, with the first match in Lincoln, the second in Christchurch and the third back in Lincoln.