Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah and co. might skip last 2 ODIs vs New Zealand for preparation for Tests- Report

India's tour of New Zealand will begin on October 22 with T20Is and also features 5 ODIs and 2 Tests.

Team India will be touring New Zealand for a complete all-format series. The cramped schedule will see New Zealand hosting India for five T20Is, five ODIs, and two Test matches, with the series starting on October 22.

However, this cramped schedule will pose a huge question for the Indian team and might force them to field a weak team for the last two ODIs of the series. This is because there are only four days between the fifth ODI and the first Test.  

As per a Dainik Jagran report, Test regulars like Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, and Mohammed Siraj, who are also part of the ODI squad, might miss the last two ODIs of the series to practice for the Tests.

With the absence of Gill, it is Shreyas Iyer who will most likely captain the ODI side. Gill has been known to be the one responsible for taking efforts for the preparation of Test matches, but in this case, there seems to be a balance in this regard owing to the lesser participation in ODI games.

The coaching staff is also likely to be split into two teams. Two of Gautam Gambhir (Head Coach), Morne Morkel (Bowling Coach), Sitanshu Kotak (Assistant Coach), and Subhadeep Ghosh (Fielding Coach) are likely to remain with the ODI squad. The other group will leave for Wellington earlier to start preparation for the upcoming Test match.

Questions have been raised about the scheduling of the New Zealand tour, which affects a series that would be pivotal for India’s 2027 ODI World Cup preparations. The report also stated that such a conundrum could’ve been avoided if T20Is were scheduled after the ODI series, as there is minimal overlap between T20I and Test squads.

The report also claims that the team management wasn’t consulted about the schedule.

India’s tour of New Zealand: Full schedule:

(Dainik Jagran report)