Rishabh Pant, who is one of the key members of the Test side, will soon receive fitness clearance from the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) and travel to New Zealand on Thursday. Pant sustained a side strain while leading the Rest of India in the Irani Cup and was ruled out of one of the unofficial Tests against New Zealand A.

“Pant is fit, and he is being made to go through match-simulation drills at the CoE. He will have to pass another round. When he completes both rounds successfully, Pant will travel to Wellington on November 12,” a BCCI source told PTI on condition of anonymity.

His return is a big boost for India, considering his performances in the longest format of the game. He has played in New Zealand. In 52 Tests, the 29-year-old has scored 3,752 runs at an average of 43.82. He has hit 8 centuries and 21 fifties, with the highest score of an unbeaten 159 against Australia in 2019.

The southpaw has achieved success in Australia, South Africa and England in challenging overseas conditions.

His aggressive batting style could decide the outcome of the two-Test series as he likes to dominate the bowlers from the start of his knock. India haven’t been impressive in Test cricket, and a 2-0 win over the Black Caps will help the team to remain in contention for the World Test Championship final next year.

Meanwhile, captain Shubman Gill and KL Rahul will not play in the fourth and fifth ODIs against the Black Caps, with Shreyas Iyer set to lead India. Gill and Rahul will start preparations for the two red-ball games.

India’s Test squad for New Zealand series

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, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj