India batter Tilak Varma is likely to be added to the India A side for the final unofficial Test vs New Zealand A, according to the TOI report. The selectors want the 23-year-old to get some ‘red-ball exposure’ before he joins the ODI squad for the final two games of the series at Mount Maunganui.

The left-handed batter was in decent form with the bat during the Duleep Trophy tournament for South Zone.  Varma scored an unbeaten 116 and 51 in the semi-final vs North Zone and followed it up with 99 in the final against East Zone. The batter has played 25 first-class games and scored 1828 runs at an average of 57, with eight centuries and seven fifties.

Mumbai Indians batter is not part of the ODI squad for the first three games, which kick off on 4th November 2026. His last fifty-over appearance came against South Africa in late 2025, where he bowled three overs with the ball and didn’t get a chance to bat.

New Zealand end day two on a high after Dhruv Jurel ton

India A captain Dhruv Jurelwho was stuck on 99 on day one, went on to compile a well-defined ton. The 25-year-old was eventually out for 105 runs, which came off 171 balls with eleven boundaries and three sixes.

Akash Deep batted well to score 116-ball 68 runs with ten boundaries and two sixes in his knock. The 29-year-old was the last man out as India A were bowled out for 346 runs. Fraser Sheat was the pick of the bowlers for the home team as he claimed 4/63 from his 24 overs. Devdutt Padikkal was the second-highest scorer with 80 runs, which came off 140 balls.

Pacer Mohammed Siraj struck first when Rhys Mariu was caught by Jurel for four runs. Mukesh Kumar then got the wickets of Curtis Heaphy (4) and Tim Robinson (3) to reduce the hosts to 13/3 at the end of eight overs.

From there, it was the Matthew Boyle and Dean Foxcroft show as the pair added unbeaten 205 runs for the fourth wicket. The proceedings ended early on the second day due to bad light. Boyle was batting on 107 off 148 balls with 14 boundaries and a six. Foxcroft faced 180 balls to amass 80 with nine fours.