Rishabh Pant to undergo second fitness test before joining India's New Zealand tour

Bengaluru's BCCI Centre of Excellence was the setting on Sunday, November 2, where Rishabh Pant fell short of the fitness benchmark required to board a flight to New Zealand. His place in India's two-Test series now hangs in the balance, with the BCCI medical team scheduling a fresh assessment within the next two days to determine whether he is ready to travel.

The injury that triggered this uncertainty was a side strain Pant sustained during the Irani Cup in early October. From October 23, he reported to the Centre of Excellence and worked through a structured rehabilitation programme covering both batting drills and wicketkeeping sessions.

Selectors had named Pant in India's Test squad for the New Zealand series, attaching an asterisk against his name to flag the fitness concern. On October 12, he was formally ruled out of the opening two four-day tour fixtures, with uncapped Kumar Kushagra brought in as cover. Should Pant come through the second assessment, the plan is for him to link up with the squad for the third four-day match against New Zealand A in Lincoln, which gets under way on November 7.

What is India's Test schedule in New Zealand?

The first Test between India and New Zealand opens in Wellington on November 19, followed by the second in Christchurch on November 27. For Pant, the Lincoln fixture starting November 7 represents the earliest opportunity to get match time under his belt before the Wellington Test.

In the two tour games that preceded the Lincoln match, Dhruv Jurel stepped in behind the stumps in place of Pant. Jurel holds a spot in India's main Test squad for the series and is the designated backup wicketkeeper. Those India A fixtures against New Zealand A gave Jurel valuable preparation time ahead of the Test leg of the tour.

Where does Jasprit Bumrah stand ahead of the New Zealand Tests?

Jasprit Bumrah departed for New Zealand on Sunday and is pencilled in for the third four-day match in Lincoln. The pacer had been on the sidelines since the Asian Games final in early October, returning to competitive preparation through bowling sessions in Ahmedabad before completing a ready-for-play routine at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru last week.

India's Test squad for the New Zealand series:

Shubman Gill (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (VC), Devdutt Padikkal, Rishabh Pant (WK)*, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Anshul Kamboj, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj.