IND vs NZ: India drop Kuldeep Yadav from Test squad, Gurnoor Brar named replacement

Kuldeep Yadav was dropped from India's Test squad in New Zealand. (CREIMAS)

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Five days out from the first Test of their New Zealand tour, India have relieved senior wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav from the squad on Saturday.

The BCCI announced that Kuldeep, who featured in only one of the 10 white-ball matches on the tour, was relieved from the squad to join Uttar Pradesh in the ongoing domestic squad. Punjab seamer Gurnoor Brar, who was part of the ODI squad in the ongoing series, will take his place in the Test team.

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“The Men’s Selection Committee has added Gurnoor Brar to the Indian squad for the two-match Test series against New Zealand, starting November 19, 2026, in Wellington. Kuldeep Yadav will be released from the Test squad to play the ongoing domestic cricket back in India,” a BCCI statement read.

Brar will now miss the fifth ODI of the series, slated to be held in Tauranga on Sunday. At the same venue on Friday, India registered one of their worst performances in one-day cricket as they lost by 244 runs. Chasing a 334-run target, India were bowled out for 89, their second-lowest score in ODIs this century.

While Gurnoor conceded 69 runs in 10 overs, Kuldeep leaked 73 runs in eight overs.

Pant declared fit

The BCCI also announced that wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant has linked up with the Test squad after attaining full recovery from his recent injuries at the start of the domestic season. Pant last featured in the Test tour to Sri Lanka where he scored 168 runs in three innings.

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India’s updated ODI squad for the fifth ODI: Shreyas Iyer [C], Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan [WK, VC], Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Auqib Nabi, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Arshdeep Singh, Kumar Kushagra [WK], Mohammed Siraj, Yash Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav

India’s updated Test squad: Shubman Gill [C], Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul [VC], Devdutt Padikkal, Rishabh Pant [WK], Dhruv Jurel [WK], Ravindra Jadeja, Anshul Kamboj, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Gurnoor Brar.