EXPLAINED: Why Shubman Gill Is Not Playing In 1st Test Against New Zealand

Star Indian batter Shubman Gill is not playing in the first Test against New Zealand. While speaking to Ravi Shastri during the toss, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma revealed the reason for Gill’s absence. According to him, Gill was not 100% fit, which is why he is left out. In Gill’s place, Sarfaraz Khan will play in the series opener at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.

“From the last Test two changes: Gill misses out, not 100%, so Sarfaraz comes in and Kuldeep in for Akash Deep,” Rohit said.

India has also left out Akash Deep from the playing XI for the first Test, and in his place, Kuldeep Yadav will play for India. The 29-year-old spinner picked up a five-wicket haul for India in his last Test against England at HPCA Stadium in Dharamsala from March 7-9, 2024.

Indian skipper Rohit Sharma has won the toss and opted to bat first in the first Test of the three-match series against New Zealand. The first day’s play of the India-New Zealand first Test was washed out due to rain, and there are high chances of rain impacting the second day’s play as well.

During the first Test, both Indian openers—Rohit and Yashasvi Jaiswal—will have a chance to achieve personal milestones. If Jaiswal manages to score 71 runs, then he will become the first Indian and second player overall after Joe Root to score more than Test 1000 runs in 2024. As of now, he has 929 runs to his name in eight matches.

Rohit, on the other hand, needs five sixes to break Virender Sehwag’s all-time record of 91 maximums and become India’s leading six hitter in the five-day format of the game.

Apart from them, Virat Kohli will also have a chance to join legendary Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, and Sunil Gavaskar in an elite list. He needs 53 runs to become the fourth Indian to score 9000 runs in Test cricket.

Playing XIs

India: Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Virat Kohli, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj

New Zealand: Tom Latham (C), Devon Conway, Will Young, Rachin Ravindra, Daryl Mitchell, Tom Blundell (WK), Glenn Phillips, Matt Henry, Tim Southee, Ajaz Patel, William O’Rourke