Team India seamer Prasidh Krishna has cleared the fitness tests that stood between him and a return to the Indian red-ball side for the Test series in New Zealand (via India Today). The medical team at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) cleared Prasidh, two days after the CoE’s second block of match simulations.
Prasidh was named in India’s squad for the first three ODIs against New Zealand, subject to a fitness clearance, and then pulled out on October 30. The Board stated that the speedster needed more time to build his bowling load before returning to international cricket. Jammu and Kashmir seamer Auqib Nabi took his place for the entire five-match series underway at Eden Park in Auckland on November 4.
Prasidh’s first assignment should be the third and final unofficial Test between India A and New Zealand A, starting at Bert Sutcliffe Oval in Lincoln on November 7 and running till November 10.
Prasidh Krishna’s presence boosts India’s WTC final chances
Prasidh Krishna’s own record is easy to underrate. He has played nine Tests and picked up 32 wickets at 30.34, with best figures of 4 for 62, and he played both matches of India’s August series in Sri Lanka. His most consequential red-ball outing came at the Sydney Cricket Ground in January 2025, when he took six Australian wickets.
India sit fifth in the 2025-27 World Test Championship standings with a 51.52 points percentage, and the two Tests in New Zealand fall into a short window: Wellington from November 19 to 23, then Christchurch from November 27 to December 1.
New Zealand completed a 3-0 sweep in India in 2024, and this is India’s first Test tour of the country since 2020.
Shubman Gill leads the 16-man squad, with KL Rahul as vice-captain and Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep and Anshul Kamboj alongside Prasidh in the pace group. Rishabh Pant’s inclusion remains subject to fitness clearance. Having Prasidh available removes one layer of uncertainty from that attack, though his first competitive spell in more than a month will be the real test.
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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran
