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Gambhir had played the last of his 56 Tests against England at The Oval in August 2014.
Led by skipper Virat Kohli, the Indian Test squad sans opener Lokesh Rahul and coach Anil Kumble arrived in Kolkata along with the New Zealand team ahead of second cricket Test starting on Friday.
A press release from the BCCI has confirmed that veteran opener Gautam Gambhir will join the squad as a replacement for the injured Rahul.
BCCI medical team said that opener, KL Rahul has an injury in his right hamstring and he is ruled out for the remainder of the Test series against the Kiwis.
Coach Kumble is slated to join the team on Wednesday morning ahead of their practice session at Eden Gardens in the afternoon, local manager said.
The release also mentioned that medium pacer Ishant Sharma is recovering and won't be available for the second Test of the series to played in Kolkata.
BCCI medical team will continue to monitor his progress.
Off spinner Jayant Yadav will replace Ishant for the second Test.
Gambhir's impressive show in the recent Duleep Trophy, where he scored four back-to-back half-centuries including two 90 plus scores, has again somewhat brought him back in focus.
India also have a another opener in left-handed batsman Shikhar Dhawan. Gambhir had played the last of his 56 Tests against England at The Oval in August 2014.
The two Delhi batsmen will be fighting for the lone spot to join Murali Vijay in the start of the innings.
The Black Caps, meanwhile, arrived with Jeetan Patel in place of injured off-spinner Mark Craig.