Fast bowler Gurnoor Brar added to India's squad for Tests against New Zealand, Kuldeep Yadav released

The BCCI confirmed the change on Saturday morning

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Saturday confirmed that pacer Gurnoor Brar has been added to the squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against New Zealand, beginning November 19 in Wellington.

Gurnoor Brar in action. (AFP)

Meanwhile, Kuldeep Yadav has been released from the squad to play domestic cricket back in India. Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has also recovered from his injury, joining the squad ahead of the Test series opener.

Brar has already arrived in Wellington and will therefore not be available for the fifth and final ODI against New Zealand on Sunday, November 15, at the Bay Oval in Mount Maunganui. The tall pacer from Punjab has been the pick of the Indian bowlers in the ODIs against the Kiwis, taking nine wickets in three matches.

He opened the series with the figures of 3/44 and followed it up with 4/30 in the second ODI. The third match was abandoned due to rain, while the fourth ODI saw him leaking a few runs, finishing with figures of 2/69.

India suffered a 244-run defeat in the fourth ODI after being bowled out for 89. Matt Henry made full use of the little swing available, taking six wickets. He dismissed Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli and Shreyas Iyer for ducks in the opening over and India never recovered from there in the 344-run chase.

India continue to lead the series 2-1, and it's all to play for in the fifth and final match in Mount Maunganui.

India's Test preparations

The Tests against New Zealand are important for India as they look to make the World Test Championship (WTC) final. India cannot afford to lose the series as they are all but in the must-win territory.

Shubman Gill's team have seven matches remaining in the ongoing cycle – two against New Zealand and five against Australia. Earlier, Gill and KL Rahul left the ODI squad after the third match to prepare for the Tests.

India’s updated Test squad: Shubman Gill (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul (vice-captain), Devdutt Padikkal, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper), Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Anshul Kamboj, Jasprit Bumrah, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Sai Sudharsan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Washington Sundar, Mohammed Siraj, Gurnoor Brar

India’s updated ODI squad for the fifth ODI: Shreyas Iyer (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, Tilak Varma, Ishan Kishan (wicketkeeper, vice-captain), Axar Patel, Naman Dhir, Auqib Nabi, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Arshdeep Singh, Kumar Kushagra (wicketkeeper), Mohammed Siraj, Yash Thakur, Kuldeep Yadav.