IND A vs NZ A: Bumrah denied more overs as rain forces draw in 3rd Unofficial Test

Rain continues to dampen scheduled cricket between India and New Zealand across formats, with all action on Tuesday abandoned due to persistent downpour. While no cricket could take place between the men’s ODI teams at Seddon Park in Hamilton, rain had its final say in Lincoln, where India A and New Zealand A were playing the third and final unofficial Test. After no play on the third day due to continuous showers, the match was eventually called off on the fourth day, robbing the returning Indian quick Jasprit Bumrah of match practice before the Test series gets underway in Wellington in nine days.

Even though the covers came off briefly on the final day, the umpires called the game off at 1 PM local time. The three-match series between India A and New Zealand A finished 0-0, as all three matches ended in draws.

Meanwhile, from India’s point of view, several first-squad Test players featured in this final unofficial Test, including top-order batters Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan and Devdutt Padikkal, keeper-batter Dhruv Jurel, all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja and seamers Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna.

Two players fighting for the number three spot, Padikkal and Sudharsan, were among the top run-scorers in this three-match series. While Padikkal finished with 326 runs in three matches, including a game-changing 199 in the series opener in Lincoln, Sudharsan scored two gritty fifties, a valiant 91 in the first game and 88 in India A’s only innings in the drawn third match.

Opener Jaiswal is second on the list with 279 runs in five innings, averaging 69.75. The left-hander also slammed a hundred in India A’s second innings in the second match in Christchurch.

Gloveman Jurel also shone for India A, scoring a hundred earlier in this series, following up with 71 in this game. Jurel is likely to find a place in India’s XI for the first Test starting November 19, with first-team player Rishabh Pant unlikely to recover in time from a side strain.

Less Game-Time for Indian Quicks

The pacers, Bumrah and Krishna, couldn’t get more overs to prepare for the two-match Test series. While Bumrah, who was rested for the first two matches and was added for only the third match, bowled six overs without picking a wicket, Krishna was among the wickets on day two before rain forced no result.

Krishna cleared the mandatory fitness test at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) before flying to New Zealand to link up with the India A squad ahead of the Test series. He bowled five overs and picked up two wickets for 12 runs, reducing New Zealand A to 36 for two in reply to India A’s 464/5 dec in the first innings.

The two will lead India’s pace attack in the two Tests.