Pant returns to India squad for SA Tests

Rishabh Pant has returned to India's Test squad for the two-match series against South Africa and has been reinstated as vice-captain. Pant was Shubman Gill's deputy during the England series before a foot injury in the fourth Test ruled him out, forcing him to miss the Oval Test and the two-match home series against the West Indies.

The Indian senior men's selection panel, led by Ajit Agarkar, announced a 15-member squad which sees the omission of Prasidh Krishna and N Jagadeesan. Apart from Pant, Akash Deep is the other addition to the squad that featured in the recent Test series against the West Indies.

Pant had suffered a fractured foot in July, when he attempted to reverse-sweep a Chris Woakes delivery in Manchester. The injury, aggravated after his decision to bat with an injured foot, kept him out of action for a lengthy period and he recently returned to active cricket when he featured in the four-day game for India A against South Africa A at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.

Pant, who led India A, scored a crucial 90 in the second innings to take his team to a three-wicket victory. He will also captain the side in the second unofficial Test that begins on November 6, with KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel, Devdutt Padikkal, Kuldeep Yadav and Mohammed Siraj also part of the India A setup.

Jurel, who kept wickets in Pant's absence in England as well as the home series against the West Indies, is the second wicketkeeper in the squad for the South Africa series. Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sudharsan and skipper Shubman Gill make the top four, with Pant likely to bat at No.5.

Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel are the spin all-rounders while Nitish Reddy is the medium-pace all-rounder in the squad. Kuldeep Yadav is the other spin option while Jasprit Bumrah, Siraj and Akash are the pacers.

Mohammed Shami has been ignored once despite featuring in all three of Bengal's Ranji Trophy matches this season, where he has picked 15 wickets at an average of 15.53 and a SR 37.2.

The opening match of the series will be played at Eden Gardens in Kolkata from November 14 while the second and final Test will be played at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati from November 22.

As reported earlier by Cricbuzz, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are not part of the India A squad for the three-match one-day series against South Africa A, which will be played in Rajkot from November 13. Tilak Varma will lead the India A one-day team, with Ruturaj Gaikwad named as his deputy.

Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag and Ishan Kishan are among the frontline batters in the squad along with Tilak and Gaikwad, while Harshit Rana and Arshdeep Singh are part of the pace department, which also includes Prasidh.

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