Rishabh Pant [Source: AFP]The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has updated its 15-member India A squad for the upcoming four-day matches in New Zealand. Senior wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has now been ruled out of the travelling group, with the selection committee picking Jharkhand star Kumar Kushagra instead. It is worth noting that the India A cricket team is scheduled to play three four-day matches in New Zealand between October 24 and November 10. The series itself will serve as a testing ground for several Team India stars before the subsequent Test series in the country.Kumar Kushagra replaces Rishabh Pant for India A TestsEarlier this month, the BCCI unveiled India A squad for the first two first-class matches of the upcoming tour of New Zealand. Rishabh Pant has now failed to make a cut into the side, prompting the BCCI selection committee to name uncapped Indian star and young wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra instead.ALSO READRishabh Pant Reveals Tactics That Helped Rest Of India Win Irani Cup 2026Among Indian cricketers set to play the Test series in New Zealand next month, senior pros like Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Washington Sundar among others made a cut into the India A squad in a bid to prepare themselves for the all-important senior men’s Test series in the country.Here is a look at the complete India A squad for the first two first-class matches of the tour of New Zealand in October and November.India A updated squad for unofficial Tests in New Zealand: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Smaran, Dhruv Jurel [C] [WK], Washington Sundar, Auqib Nabi, Akash Deep, Anshul Kamboj, Manav Suthar, Mukesh Choudhary, Sai Sudharsan, Yash Rathod, Mukesh Kumar, Kumar Kushagra [WK] (1st and 2nd matches).Notably, Pant himself had reportedly made a special request to the BCCI selection committee to allow him to play at least a couple of India A matches to get acclimatized to the conditions before the all-important Test series.Why was Rishabh Pant ruled out of two matches of India A tour of New Zealand?Rishabh Pant was already named in India A squad for the upcoming four-day match tour of New Zealand. However, his availability was subject to fitness clearance.Pant has now been sidelined by the BCCI selection committee as he is yet to recover from the side strain he suffered while leading the Rest of India side in this month’s Irani Cup 2026.As of now, he remains under care of the BCCI Medical team in a bid to attain full recovery. The selection committee will make a decision over his availability for the third match of the series at a later stage.The Test series between India and New Zealand is scheduled to commence from November 19 onwards, i.e., nine days after the conclusion of the India A and New Zealand A series.ALSO READAustralian Batters Who Got Out In The 190s In Test Cricket
