India squad for South Africa Tests announced: The BCCI on Wednesday announced the squad for the upcoming Test series against South Africa. Rishabh Pant, who had sustained an injury on his toe during the tour of England, makes a return to the squad and is all set to resume the wicketkeeping duties.
Pant had fractured his right toe during the fourth Test against England at Old Trafford, Manchester in July this year. After taking a blow on his toe, Pant left the field but limped out in the middle the next day to bat. His bravery was acknowledged by spectators, who welcomed him with a standing ovation.
Battling pain, the southpaw went to complete his half-century. He, however, was not required to bat in the second innings as resilient efforts by Washington Sundar and Ravindra Jadeja saw India eke a hard fought draw.
Following the injury Pant returned to action in the unofficial first Test against South Africa for which he was also named the captain. Pant kept wickets and scored 17 off 20 in the first innings. He, however, showed old flair by smashing a game-changing 90 off 113 balls, which was instrumental in India A's three-wicket victory.
The second unofficial Test starts from Thursday at the BCCI Centre of Excellence Ground 1 in Bengaluru.
The others are more or less the same from the previous series against West Indies played last month. As Pant makes a return the vice-captaincy duties has also been transferred back to the explosive wicketkeeper-batter from veteran all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.
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The two-match series starts from November 14 at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. The second and the final match will be played at the ACA Stadium in Guwahati from November 22 onwards.
India have so far played the most match in the current World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 cycle and are placed third on the nine-team table. South Africa, who are the defending champions, are placed fifth after a 1-1 draw in a two-match series against Pakistan last month.
India’s 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
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