JUST IN: Rishabh Pant returns as India name 15-man squad for two-match test series against South Africa

India will host South Africa in two tests from November 14.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), on Wednesday, November 5, announced the Indian Cricket Team’s squad for the two-match hoe test series against South Africa Cricket Team. The announcement saw the return of wicket-keeper batter and vice-captain Rishabh Pant following his injury during the England test tour, which ruled him out of the home test series against the West Indies and the subsequent white-ball tour of Australia.

Pant, who sustained a foot injury during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 in July, is currently captaining India A in the unofficial test series against South Africa A. He scored a 90-run knock in the first game to prove his match-fitness to selectors.

In his absence, Ravindra Jadeja was appointed as vice-captain for the two-match test series against the West Indies last month. However, he will take over vice-captaincy from Jadeja with his comeback. N Jagadeensan, who was included as the back-up wicket-keeper for the West Indies series, has been left out of the squad following Pant’s return.

Apart from Rishabh Pant’s inclusion, India made only one change in including Akash Deep instead of Prasidh Krishna for the series while retaining other 13 who were part of the West Indies tests last month.

Spinner Kuldeep Yadav, who was recently released from the T20I squad against Australia to play for India A, has also been named in the squad. Senior pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj will have the responsibility of the pace department, while Mohammed Shami has been overlooked again despite performing well in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2025-26.

India test squad for South Africa series:

India squad for test series against South Africa: 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.

During the series, India will host South Africa for two tests, three ODIs and five T20Is. The series will kick off on November 14 with the first test at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens. The second test will be played at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati from November 22, which will be making its test debut.

Moreover, the BCCI also announced India A squad for the unofficial One-Day series against South Africa A, scheduled to be played from November 13 to 19. Tilak Varma has been named as captain of the side, while Ruturaj Gaikwad has been named as his deputy.

India A’s squad for unofficial ODI 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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