IND vs NZ Test 2026: Schedule, Squad, Time and WTC Stakes

A Test match in progress at the Basin Reserve cricket ground, Wellington

Photo: "Basin Reserve" by PaddyBriggs, via Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

The IND vs NZ Test series 2026 starts on Thursday, 19 November at the Basin Reserve in Wellington. The second and final Test follows at Hagley Oval in Christchurch from 27 November to 1 December. Both Tests start at 3:30 AM IST, according to the BCCI, so this is a series for early risers. These are India’s first Tests in New Zealand since 2020, and both count towards the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27. Here is the schedule, India’s squad, the fitness questions, the WTC stakes and where to watch.

Table of Contents

IND vs NZ Test 2026 schedule

The dates and IST start times are from the BCCI’s squad announcement, and the venues are from New Zealand Cricket’s 2026-27 schedule:

Match	Dates	Venue	Start (IST)
1st Test	Thursday, 19 November to Monday, 23 November	Basin Reserve, Wellington	3:30 AM
2nd Test	Friday, 27 November to Tuesday, 1 December	Hagley Oval, Christchurch	3:30 AM

Play starts at 11:00 AM local time. New Zealand is on daylight saving time in November, which is why the Indian start time is so early. The Tests close a tour of 12 matches in about 40 days, which also includes five T20Is and five ODIs. The five-match India vs New Zealand ODI series runs from 4 to 15 November, just before the first Test. Between the two Tests there is a three-day break, which takes in Guru Nanak Jayanti on 24 November.

India’s Test squad for New Zealand

The selectors named a 16-man squad on 16 October:

Shubman Gill (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Sai Sudharsan, Rishabh Pant (wicketkeeper, subject to fitness clearance), Dhruv Jurel (wicketkeeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep and Anshul Kamboj.

The talking points

Bumrah is back. He was left out of the ODI squad and will lead the attack in the Tests. According to ESPNcricinfo, he has not played a Test since November 2025. His last matches were at the Asian Games, where India won gold. (Our Asian Games 2026 campaign guide covers India’s other sports.)
Pant’s fitness. Pant suffered a side strain while captaining Rest of India in the Irani Cup and missed the first two India A four-day games against New Zealand A. He is expected to play the third game at Lincoln from 7 to 10 November, which should show whether he is ready for Wellington.
Prasidh Krishna’s hamstring. On 30 October the BCCI ruled Prasidh out of the ODI series to give him more time to build up his workload after a hamstring strain. He remains in the Test squad and is due to play for India A in Lincoln if he passes his return-to-play assessment.
Returning seamers. Akash Deep is back after proving his form and fitness in the Irani Cup and the Ranji Trophy for Bengal. Anshul Kamboj returns to the Test side for the first time since his debut in Manchester in July 2025.
Spin options. India picked two spin-bowling all-rounders, Jadeja and Washington Sundar, alongside Kuldeep Yadav. Manav Suthar missed out despite taking 16 wickets in four innings in Sri Lanka.

Gill, Rahul and Kamboj play only the first three ODIs, so they have time to prepare for the red-ball games. New Zealand’s Test squad had not been announced when this was written (1 November). Check NZC’s announcements in the week before the first Test.

What’s at stake in the World Test Championship

Both Tests are part of the WTC 2025-27 cycle, and India need points. After South Africa beat Australia and West Indies beat Bangladesh, the table on 31 October looked like this, as reported by News24:

Position	Team	Tests (W-L-D)	Points	PCT
1	New Zealand	6 (4-1-1)	52	72.22%
2	South Africa	7 (5-2-0)	60	71.43%
3	Australia	13 (9-4-0)	108	69.23%
4	India	11 (5-4-2)	68	51.52%

So India face the table-toppers in their own conditions, and sit about 20 percentage points behind them. A series win would close that gap quickly. A defeat would leave India relying heavily on their later matches, including the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at home early next year. Tables change after every Test, so check the ICC’s official standings for the latest.

India’s Test record in New Zealand

New Zealand has been a hard place for Indian Test teams. On India’s last Test tour there, in 2020, New Zealand won 2-0, by 10 wickets in Wellington and 7 wickets in Christchurch. Those are the same two cities hosting this series. India’s last Test series win in New Zealand came in 2009, when a 10-wicket win in Hamilton gave them a 1-0 result.

The rivalry also has a recent edge. New Zealand beat India 3-0 in India in 2024, so this series is a chance for India to respond in the opposite conditions. New Zealand pitches have traditionally helped seam bowling, which is why India’s pace attack matters so much.

Where to watch IND vs NZ Tests in India

The whole tour is on Sony Sports Network, Sony VIZHA and the Sony LIV app, with coverage in English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada. Sony’s schedule lists both Tests at 3:30 AM IST every day, according to MediaInfoline. The English Test commentary team includes Harsha Bhogle, Sunil Gavaskar, Stephen Fleming, Tim Southee, Simon Doull, Shane Bond and Ian Smith. Streaming on Sony LIV may need a subscription.

A 3:30 AM start means the first session finishes around 5:30 AM IST and a full day’s play around 10:30 AM IST, depending on interruptions. If you can’t watch live, the final session falls in Indian mid-morning, which suits office-hour score checks.