Shami out as India name team for NZ tests

India pace bowler Mohammed Shami has failed to recover from injury and will miss the three-test series against New Zealand, team chiefs said on Friday.

Shami, 34, has been suffering from an ankle injury, which required surgery and last played for India in the 2023 50-over World Cup at home.

The hosts will look to extend their lead at the top of the World Test Championship standings when they take on New Zealand in the opener starting Wednesday in Bengaluru.

Rohit Sharma will lead the 15-member squad with Jasprit Bumrah named his deputy ahead of a much-waited five-test tour of Australia next month.

India did not have a vice-captain in their recent 2-0 test sweep of Bangladesh at home.

India have nearly the same squad for New Zealand tests with only left-arm pace bowler Yash Dayal omitted from the list.

A look at #TeamIndia’s squad for the three-match Test series against New Zealand 🙌#INDvNZ | @IDFCFIRSTBank pic.twitter.com/Uuy47pocWM

— BCCI (@BCCI) October 11, 2024

SQUAD: Rohit Sharma (capt), Jasprit Bumrah (vice-capt), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep.