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Updated November 13th, 2021 at 15:00 IST

India vs New Zealand Test series: Why was Shreyas Iyer selected ahead of Hanuma Vihari?

Shreyas Iyer was included in the Indian team for the upcoming Test series against New Zealand, as Hanuma Vihari travels to South Africa with India A.

Shreyas Iyer
Image: AP/PTI | Image:self
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With the announcement of the Indian team for the upcoming three-match Test series against New Zealand, cricket fans in India were seen questioning BCCI on social media for not including Hanuma Vihari in the squad and going ahead with Shreyas Iyer. Iyer is yet to make his Test debut for India, while Vihari has played a total of 12 Test matches for India, since making his debut in 2018. However, Vihari has been included in India- A squad that is set to travel for their tour of South Africa, ahead of the senior team’s tour later in December. 

As reported by the Times of India, they learned from a source close to the BCCI selectors that Vihari was sent with the A squad to South Africa, so that he could acclimatize before India’s tour of South Africa later in December. Vihari will play three four-day matches alongside Indian players like Prithvi Shaw and Navdeep Saini to get used to the condition. The report also highlighted that the new head coach of India Rahul Dravid always pitched for shadow tours by the A-team before any important away tours by the senior team. Vihari was added to India A squad on Friday, three days after the initial 14-man India A squad was announced.

Rohit Sharma left out of Test series against New Zealand

Meanwhile, Shreyas Iyer made his way to the Test squad against New Zealand with no prior experience in test matches. As per the report, Iyer's inclusion is to strengthen India’s middle-order by having Iyer as an option, with Ravindra Jadeja and Ravichandran Ashwin well capable of taking the attack to the opposition while batting at no. six of no. 7 in Indian conditions. In the absence of Rohit Sharma and Rishabh Pant, Iyer might be the right man to fill the role in the Indian middle order. Meanwhile, Ajinkya Rahane will lead the team in the first Test, while Kohli joins the team from the second match onwards. 

India’s squad for Test series against New Zealand

Ajinkya Rahane (c), KL Rahul, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara (vc), Shubman Gill, S Iyer, Wriddiman Saha (WK), KS Bharat (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, R. Ashwin, Axar Patel, J Yadav, Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna.

India A full squad for the tour of South Africa

Priyank Panchal (c), Prithvi Shaw, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Devdutt Padikkal, Sarfaraz Khan, Hanuma Vihari, Baba Aparajith, Upendra Yadav(wk), Krishnappa Gowtham, Rahul Chahar, Saurabh Kumar, Navdeep Saini, Umran Malik, Ishan Porel, Arzan Nagwaswalla.

Image: AP/PTI

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Published November 13th, 2021 at 15:00 IST

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