India’s Test squad for South Africa series announced; Rishabh Pant returns

On Wednesday, November 5, the BCCI and Indian selection committee, led by Ajit Agarkar, announced a strong 15-man Indian Test squad for the Test series against South Africa, which is commencing on Friday, November 14.

While the first Test will be played at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata, starting on Friday, November 14, the second Test is scheduled to be played in Guwahati for the first time, starting on Saturday, November 22. 

Moving into the details of the Indian Test squad, the keeper-batter Rishabh Pant has returned, replacing Narayanan Jagadeesan. On the other hand, pacer Akash Deep has replaced Prasidh Krishna in the squad that defeated West Indies 2-0.

While Pant was ruled out of the recently concluded West Indies Test series after he sustained a foot fracture in England, Akash Deep recovered from a back injury, which ruled him out of the Duleep Trophy.

Notably, Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Axar Patel, and Washington Sundar will join the Test squad after the conclusion of the ongoing five-match T20I series against Australia.

For the unversed, Pant is entering this series on the back of a 90-run knock in the first unofficial Test against South Africa A. Meanwhile, Akash Deep proved his fitness after playing two rounds of the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2025-26 campaign.

Furthermore, the BCCI announced the India A one-day squad for the series against South Africa A, starting on Wednesday, November 13, in Rajkot. Tilak Varma will lead the one-day squad while Ruturaj Gaikwad has been named as his deputy. 

India’s Test squad for South Africa series: 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.

India A Squad for the one-day series against South Africa A: Tilak Varma (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad (VC), 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).

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