India’s stand-in Test captain Ajinkya Rahane has confirmed that Shreyas Iyer will make his red-ball debut in the opening Test against New Zealand, starting November 25 in Kanpur.

"Shreyas Iyer is going to make his debut," Rahane said on the eve of the first Test.

This development comes after KL Rahul got ruled out of the two-Test series due to an injury. Apart from Rahul, the hosts will be without the services of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who have been rested to manage workload.

Team India have also given rest to the likes of Rishabh Pant, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammad Shami. Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, and Akshar Patel are the three spinners in the squad while Ishant Sharma, Umesh Yadav, and Mohammed Siraj are the fast bowling options.

After Rahul’s injury, Mayank Agarwal is set to have Shubman Gill as his opening partner. Earlier, it was reported that Gill will bat in the middle-order in the absence of regular skipper Kohli.

(With ANI inputs)