Pant is back in the India team for the Tests against South Africa

Pant is back in the India team for the Tests against South Africa

Rishabh Pant is back in India’s Test team for the two-match series against South Africa and has been named vice-captain again. He was Shubman Gill’s deputy during the England series but missed the final Test at the Oval and the two home Tests against West Indies due to a foot injury he picked up in the fourth Test.

The Indian men’s selection committee, led by Ajit Agarkar, has picked a 15-player squad. Prasidh Krishna and N Jagadeesan have been left out. Along with Pant, fast bowler Akash Deep has also been added to the squad that played against the West Indies.

India Test squad: Shubman Gill (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Rishabh Pant (WK) (VC), Sai Sudharsan, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep

Rishabh Pant injured his foot in July while trying a reverse sweep against Chris Woakes in Manchester. He made the injury worse by continuing to bat and was out of action for a long time. He recently returned by playing a four-day match for India A against South Africa A in Bengaluru, where he scored a vital 90 in the second innings and led his team to a three-wicket win.

Pant will also captain India A in the second unofficial Test starting November 6. The squad includes KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel, Devdutt Padikkal, Kuldeep Yadav, and Mohammed Siraj.

Jurel, who kept wickets when Pant was injured, is the second wicketkeeper for the South Africa Test series. The top four batters are Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sudharsan, and captain Shubman Gill, with Pant expected to bat at No.5.

Spin all-rounders in the squad are Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, and Axar Patel. Nitish Reddy is a medium-pace all-rounder. Kuldeep Yadav is the extra spinner, while Jasprit Bumrah, Siraj, and Akash Deep are the fast bowlers.

Mohammed Shami has been left out again, even though he played all three Ranji matches for Bengal this season and took 15 wickets at an average of 15.53.

The first Test will be held at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, on November 14, and the second at Barsapara Stadium, Guwahati, on November 22.

Tilak was named India A captain for the one-day series

Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma won’t be playing in the India A squad for the upcoming three-match one-day series against South Africa A, starting November 13 in Rajkot.

Tilak Varma will captain the team, with Ruturaj Gaikwad as vice-captain. The batting lineup features Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Ishan Kishan, Tilak, and Gaikwad. In the pace attack, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, and Prasidh Krishna will lead the charge.

India A squad for one-day series: Tilak Varma (C), Abhishek Sharma, Ruturaj Gaikwad (VC), Ishan Kishan (WK), Riyan Parag, Ayush Badoni, Vipraj Nigam, Manav Suthar, Nishant Sindhu, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Arshdeep Singh, Khaleel Ahmed, Prabhsimran Singh (WK)