Virat Kohli rested for 1st Test vs New Zealand; Rohit Sharma not part of entire series

In one of the major development, Virat Kohli has been rested for the first Test match against New Zealand. He will be leading the team in the second, the Board of Control for Cricket in India announced on Friday. Rohit Sharma has been rested for the two-Test series along with Jasprit Bumrah, Rishabh Pant, Mohammed Shami and Shardul Thakur. Sharma will be leading the team in the T20I series. In Virat Kohli's absence, Vice Captain Ajinkya Rahane will captain the team in the opening Test. The match will be played at Green Park in Kanpur from November 25 to 29.

Virat Kohli has been rested for the first Test match against New Zealand

The press release said that the All-India Senior Selection Committee has picked the squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand. Virat Kohli has already stepped down from India's T20I captaincy at the end of the team's campaign at the ICC T20 World Cup and rested for the three-match T20I series against New Zealand. A few new faces have been included in the Test squad for the New Zealand series.

The team includes Ajinkya Rahane (Captain), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara (Vice-Captain), Shubman Gill, Shreyas Iyer, Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), KS Bharat (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Axar Patel, Jayant Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna. The second Test will be played in Mumbai from December 3.

To note, Rahul Dravid has been appointed as Team India Head Coach.