Gurnoor Brar has been added to India’s Test squad for the two-match series in New Zealand, with Kuldeep Yadav released to play domestic cricket in India. The Board of Control for Cricket in India announced the change on Saturday, 14 November. The first Test starts at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on 19 November, and the second follows in Christchurch from 27 November.
Gurnoor Brar earns call after ODI wickets
Gurnoor Brar has taken nine wickets in the three completed one-day internationals on this tour, with returns of three for 44, four for 30 and two for 69. He has played 13 one-day internationals for India in all, taking 23 wickets, and he is yet to make his Test debut. The 26-year-old fast bowler has been with the one-day side in New Zealand, and his promotion means he will miss the fifth and final ODI of the series on Sunday.
The BCCI said no replacement would be named for Brar in the one-day squad for that match. Gurnoor Brar will instead travel to Wellington to join the Test group, a move that underlines how quickly his stock has risen on this tour. Kuldeep Yadav, meanwhile, stays in the one-day squad for the fifth ODI and will return to India to play domestic cricket after it. The board said Kuldeep was being released from the Test squad “in order to play the ongoing domestic cricket back in India”, and he is expected to turn out for Uttar Pradesh in the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy.
Gurnoor Brar adds to pace group in Wellington
With Gurnoor Brar in the squad, India now have six frontline fast bowlers for the two Tests: Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Anshul Kamboj and Brar. Nitish Kumar Reddy is in the squad as a seam-bowling allrounder, and the spin options are Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar. The selection leans on pace for conditions in Wellington and Christchurch, where the ball is expected to move.
India’s updated 16-member Test squad is Shubman Gill as captain, Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul as vice-captain, Devdutt Padikkal, Rishabh Pant as wicketkeeper, Dhruv Jurel as wicketkeeper, Ravindra Jadeja, Anshul Kamboj, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, B Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj and Gurnoor Brar. Gill leads a side that has Bumrah back at the head of the attack and two wicketkeepers in Pant and Jurel.
The call for Gurnoor Brar is a straight swap in balance rather than a like-for-like change. The left-arm wrist-spinner has been a regular in India’s Test plans at home, but the selectors have gone heavier on pace for this tour. Kuldeep will instead play the domestic T20 competition that is running in India, with the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy under way. The BCCI statement gave domestic cricket as the reason, and nothing else, for his release.
Test dates and World Test Championship
The two Tests are part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle. The first Test begins on Thursday, 19 November, at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. The second Test starts on Friday, 27 November, in Christchurch. Brar will link up with the Test squad in Wellington rather than play the fifth ODI at Bay Oval on Sunday, where India lead the one-day series 2-1.
For Brar, the call is a reward for a strong run in the one-day series. Nine wickets in three matches, at a time when India have been short of bowling options on tour, put him in front of the selectors. He has not played a Test yet, and the two matches in New Zealand would be his first chance in the format if he is picked in the eleven.
The one-day squad for the fifth ODI is Shreyas Iyer as captain, Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan as vice-captain and wicketkeeper, Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Auqib Nabi, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Arshdeep Singh, Kumar Kushagra as wicketkeeper, Mohammed Siraj, Yash Thakur and Kuldeep Yadav. Gurnoor Brar will not be part of it, as he prepares for the Test series in Wellington.