Rishabh Pant returns to India squad for South Africa Tests

India’s wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant has returned to India’s Test squad for the upcoming series against South Africa. Pant had suffered a toe injury in the fourth Test match against England at Old Trafford, Manchester when he was hit on his right leg by a full-length delivery from Chris Woakes.

Pant then went on to miss the two-match Test series against the West Indies. The left-hander recently led India A in the first unofficial Test match against South Africa A and scored a crucial knock of 90 runs in the second innings.

There is no place for Prasidh Krishna and N Jagadeesan in the 15-man squad. Akash Deep has been added to the squad but the Ajit Agarkar-led selection panel continues to ignore veteran fast bowler Mohammed Shami. Shami has been in good form in the ongoing Ranji Trophy as he has scalped 15 wickets in three matches for Bengal at an average of 15.53.

Meanwhile, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, and Axar Patel are the spin all-rounders, while Nitish Reddy is the seam-bowling all-rounder in the squad. Kuldeep Yadav is the other spin option, whereas Jasprit Bumrah, Siraj and Akash are the fast bowlers in the team. 

Kuldeep has been released from the T20I squad against Australia and he would play the second unofficial Test against South Africa A to prepare for the series against the Proteas.

The opening game of the series will be held at Eden Gardens in Kolkata while the second Test will be played at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati from November 22.

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