The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Wednesday announced the 15-member squad for India’s upcoming two-match Test series against South Africa.
Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant makes his comeback into the Test fold after missing the West Indies series due to a fractured foot, an injury he sustained in July during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.
Pant returned to action last week, when he led the India A team during the first unofficial Test against South Africa A in Bengaluru. He struck a match-defining 90 off 113 in the second innings to take the side to a three-wicket win.
Pacer Akash Deep also returns to the squad after missing the two Tests against the Caribbeans due to an injury. Meanwhile, Mohammed Shami, who had impressed during the first two rounds of the Ranji Trophy for Bengal, did not find a place in the squad.
The first Test will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata from November 14 to 18 followed by the second game in Guwahati from November 22 to 26.
SQUAD
Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc/wk), 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.
Get out to Shami, Sarfraz , Prasidha
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“India’s Test squad for the two-match Test series against South Africa at home was announced today. Rishabh Pant returned to the squad, having recovered from his foot injury sustained during the England tour as a total of two changes were made to the squad that played against the West Indies last month. But there are a few deserving players who missed out on making it to the team yet again. Here are 3 players who deserved to be picked but missed out:
1. Mohammed Shami
Mohammed Shami has time and again openly claimed that he is fit and playing domestic cricket comfortably. He also criticised the management, claiming that no one has communicated to him asking him about his fitness. However, he has proved his match fitness time and again and has also done well in the first three rounds of the Ranji Trophy, picking 15 wickets in five innings, including a five-wicket haul as well. Shami deserves to get another chance in the Indian team, but at the moment, there doesn’t seem to be a place for him.”
2. Sarfaraz Khan
Sarfaraz Khan’s absence from the Indian Test team is a big mystery. It is currently unknown why and how we went down the pecking order, especially after smashing 150 runs in the first Test against New Zealand in the series that India lost 0-3 at home. He didn’t play a single game on the Australia tour and was dropped for the England Test series despite scoring 92 runs for India A against England Lions. However, his form in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season is not great, with not a single fifty in five innings so far.
3. Prasidh Krishna
Prasidh Krishna has been dropped from India’s Test squad after not getting a chance to play against the West Indies. He last played in the fifth Test against England at Oval in August. Krishna has been picked in India A squad for One-Day series against Australia A but why has he been left out of Test squad in the first place? Well, there’s no answer to that question.”
