Indian squad for first Test against New Zealand to be picked on September 12
The national selection committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will meet at Mumbai on Monday, September 12, to name the Indian Test squad that will take on New Zealand in the first match of the three-Test series, starting at the Green Park stadium in Kanpur on September 22.
The Indian Test team has been on a roll over the past year or so under the leadership of Virat Kohli who has led the team from the front with his aggressive style of captaincy. After going down fighting against Australia Down Under, India drew the one-off Test against Bangladesh before claiming a come-from-behind 2-1 Test series victory against Sri Lanka in their own backyard.
Kohli’s men also beat a South African side which had remained unbeaten in away Test series for more than nine years featuring stars such as AB de Villiers and Hashim Amla which helped them on their way to the No 1 Test ranking in January after the Proteas were beaten 2-1 at home by England in a four-match Test series.
After the T20 format ruled the roost for the early part of the year, India returned to action in the longer format of the game with their four-Test series against the West Indies under new head coach Anil Kumble who was preferred to former Team India manager Ravi Shastri after a lengthy process. There was no change in fortunes for the Indian team however as they won convincingly 2-0 after rain had played spoilsport in the two remaining matches.
A busy home Test season awaits with the Indian Test side set to play 13 Tests during the 2016-17 with series’ lined up against England and Australia following the New Zealand series while a one-off Test is also scheduled for against Bangladesh.
With such an important period awaiting, which could see India grab a stranglehold over the No 1 ranking after briefly climbing to the top spot before being overthrown by arch-rivals Pakistan, the selectors will be eager to get a solid team in place for the series opener against the Black Caps.
Though only a handful of spots are up for grabs in the Indian team, the selection panel is keen to catch the probable contenders live in action before making a final call on the side.
While Vikram Rathour and Saba Karim will catch the first two days of the Duleep Trophy final along with Indian head coach Anil Kumble, Gagan Khoda and MSK Prasad, the other members of the selection meeting, are currently in Australia traveling with the India-A team.
The trio of Kumble, Rathour and Karim will head to Mumbai to join up with selection committee chairman Sandeep Patil while the other two members of the selection panel, Khoda and Prasad, will join the meeting on Monday via video conference.