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In a big news ahead of India's first Test against New Zealand at Green Park in Kanpur, sources close to SportsTiger have confirmed that Shreyas Iyer could make his Test debut in this game. Notably, a number of senior cricketers like Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli will not be part of the first Test which would make space for former Delhi Capitals captain Shreyas Iyer who had been out of action for a large part of 2021 and even missed out on the T20 World Cup.
With Rohit being rested for both the Tests and KL Rahul, Shubman Gill as well as Mayank Agarwal all available for selection, it would be interesting to see who will be India's openers in the Test matches. Ajinkya Rahane is set to lead the team in the first Test with Virat back at the helm of affairs once he joins the side in Mumbai ahead of the second Test.
Meanwhile, India will take confidence from the fact that they completed a 3-0 clean sweep over the Kiwis in the T20I series ahead of the Tests. Both teams were without some of their preferred players, handing them rest after a packed season, the teams would have a greater vision with the next T20 World Cup in less than 12 months' time.
In the longest format though, India faced a defeat in both the Tests which they played on their tour of New Zealand and fell short even in the ICC World Test Championship final played earlier in the year in Southampton.
After the New Zealand series, the team has to fly to South Africa for a tour involving both Tests and limited-overs matches.
India' squad for NZ Tests: A Rahane (C), C Pujara (VC), KL Rahul, M Agarwal, S Gill, S Iyer, W Saha (WK), KS Bharat (WK), R Jadeja, R Ashwin, A Patel, J Yadav, I Sharma, U Yadav, Md Siraj, P Krishna, Virat Kohli (C, available for 2nd Test only).