After suffering a left-side injury while guiding the Rest of India in the Irani Cup, wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant will miss the first two games of India A’s trip to New Zealand. His replacement for those two games is Kumar Kushagra. On October 6, 2026, the Men’s Selection Committee first revealed the India A team, which includes Pant. Following the injury, the BCCI announced that Dhruv Jurel will remain the team’s captain while Kushagra will take over as wicketkeeper for the first two multi-day matches.
Following his rejection by India’s ODI team during their most recent match against the West Indies, this is yet another setback for Pant. The wicketkeeper-batsman had been neglected once more, despite the fact that a number of regulars were absent for the three-match series. Axar Patel, Ishan Kishan, and Shreyas Iyer were all unable to play in the ODIs, depriving India of a number of players who would often be in their ODI XI. Pant has been out of contention in the 50-over format for almost two years, but their absence did not provide him a chance to return.
While leading the Rest of India in the Irani Cup, Pant had a left-side strain. He is presently receiving treatment from the board’s medical specialists and is making good progress, according to the BCCI. No precise information regarding the strain’s intensity has been disclosed. An assessment of Pant’s suitability to compete in the third India Later on, a match will be played in Lincoln from November 7 to 10. He is therefore still available for that fixture.
India A full squad Updated: 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).
