India vs South Africa: Fit-again Pant returns for Test series

Karnataka’s Prasidh Krishna was left out at the expense of the returning Akash Deep as

Bengaluru: A fit-again Rishabh Pant returned while Karnataka’s Prasidh Krishna was left out at the expense of Akash Deep as the selectors on Wednesday announced a 15-member squad for the two-Test series against South Africa starting in Kolkata on November 14.

After Pant cleared all the fitness parameters in the opening four-day game between India A and South Africa A at BCCI’s Centre of Excellence, his return for the crucial series against the current World Test Championship winners was a no-brainer. And, he takes back the vice-captaincy role from veteran Ravindra Jadeja, who had stepped in during his absence.

Pant, who played his first competitive game after fracturing his right foot in the Manchester Test against England late July, kept for 139.3 overs against South Africa A and looked in no discomfort whatsoever.

Captaining the side, he pulled off some fine diving saves against the pacers Khaleel Ahmed and Gurnoor Brar, both of whom were erratic at times. Against the spinners Tanush Kotian and Manav Suthar also he was on top of his game, barely missing a ball.

Apart from keeping, what was more encouraging was his batting. He fluffed the lines in the first innings, but 28-year-old upped his game in the second innings. He did look to attack from the start once again but this time his shot selection was better, scoring a game-changing 113-ball 90 that helped India A score a nervy three-wicket win.

Pant was typically chirpy behind the stumps as well, often having something to say to the bowlers, especially in the first innings where South Africa A took the game to the Indians through the second-wicket pair of Jordan Hermann and Marques Ackerman.

Pant will be involved in the second game against South Africa A that starts at the same venue from Thursday.

Prasidh is the most notable omission as the selectors recalled Akash. Prasidh, however, has been picked for India A’s two one-dayers against South Africa in Rajkot on Nov 16 and 19.

Barring that, there are no other changes to the Indian team that beat the West Indies 2-0 early last month. Jasprit Bumrah, who has played a lot of cricket from the England series, will share the new ball with his trusted lieutenant Mohammed Siraj.

The first Test is at the Eden Gardens from Nov 14-18 followed by the second at the ACA Stadium in Guwahati from Nov 22-26. Guwahati will be hosting its first-ever Test match.

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

India A’s squad for one-day team: Tilak Varma (capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vice-capt), Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Ishan Kishan (wk), Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Vipraj Nigam, Manav Suthar, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Prabhsimran Singh (wk).