NZ A name 19-man squad with 11 Black Caps to face India A in red-ball games
New Zealand have named a strong, rotating 19-man A squad for the three four-day matches against India A. Eleven of the players have already played for the Black Caps. The first game starts on Saturday, 24 October, at the Bert Sutcliffe Oval at Lincoln University. For India, the games are a chance to get used to New Zealand conditions before the Test series that begins on 19 November.
The squad is built around rotation. The red-ball games run alongside the white-ball series between the two senior sides and New Zealand's domestic 50-over competition, the Ford Trophy, which starts on 28 October. Only 13 players will be available for each four-day game, and the other six will go to the Ford Trophy.
Canterbury's Rhys Mariu will captain the first two matches. He is available for the third as well, but New Zealand Cricket has said the captain for that game will be decided later. Mariu, Dean Foxcroft, Matt Boyle, Curtis Heaphy, Simon Keene, Fraser Sheat and Jarrod McKay are in all three match squads.
The international names are spread across the series. Wicketkeeper-batter Mitch Hay, Kristian Clarke, Jayden Lennox and Tim Robinson are in the squads for the first two games. Matt Fisher is added for the second. The third match is where the biggest names come in. Henry Nicholls and Ben Lister are in that squad, along with Adi Ashok. Nick Kelly, the Black Caps' newest centrally contracted player, is in line to play that game as well. Nicholls is the only established Test regular in the group, so the selectors are mostly using the series to give depth players longer red-ball outings.
The home side's head of high performance development, Pete Sanford, said the matches are a good opportunity to keep developing New Zealand's player pool. He also said the home side is looking forward to hosting India A.
**India's side**
India A are led by wicketkeeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, the senior team's back-up keeper. They have several players who could be in the frame for the Test series. Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Sai Sudharsan, Washington Sundar and Akash Deep are all part of the squad. Rishabh Pant was originally picked, but a side strain has ruled him out of the first two matches. Jharkhand's Kumar Kushagra has come in as his replacement. The BCCI named the A squad on 6 October, at the same time as India's T20I squad for the tour.
**Schedule**
All three matches start at 10:30am local time, which is 3am IST, so Indian viewers will need an early alarm.
- 1st match: 24–27 October, Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln
- 2nd match: 31 October–3 November, Hagley Oval, Christchurch
- 3rd match: 7–10 November, Bert Sutcliffe Oval, Lincoln
**What it means for India**
The tour has a clear purpose for India's red-ball group. Jaiswal, Rahul, Sundar and the others will get time in the middle against a competitive attack before the Tests. They will face Foxcroft, Clarke and Lister, who are used to home conditions, in the first-class format. For Jurel the series is also a leadership test. Pant's absence from the first two games leaves a gap, so Jurel and Kushagra may share the wicketkeeping duties.
New Zealand's side will be a different one each week, so India A will have to adapt to changing line-ups, especially in the third game when Nicholls and Lister are available. Since the white-ball games and the Ford Trophy are running at the same time, New Zealand's depth is being tested too. India A's batters will want long innings in these games, and their bowlers will want to prove they can take 20 wickets in New Zealand conditions.