With the cricketing action continuing at an unprecedented pace, only six days after the conclusion of India’s white-ball tour of Australia, India will host South Africa for a two-Test series.
The Temba Bavuma-led Proteas are the reigning ICC World Test Champions. They recently squared the two-Test series in Pakistan by 1-1, while India beat the West Indies 2-0 at home.
IND vs SA: When and where is the India vs South Africa 1st Test?
The first Test of the India vs South Africa series will be played at the Eden Gardens from November 14, while the second Test will be hosted in Guwahati from November 22.
India announced their squad a few days ago. Rishabh Pant is set to make his comeback to international cricket since hurting his foot in the Manchester Test in July, while Akash Deep has been named in the squad as well, replacing Prasidh Krishna.
Pant proved both his form and fitness in the two first-class matches for India A against South Africa A, whacking two half-centuries in two games, including a knock of 90 runs that helped India A chase down 275 in the fourth innings.
The majority of the playing XI members for the IND vs SA 1st Test in Kolkata will be the same as they were in the 2nd Test against the West Indies.
Captain Shubman Gill, openers KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal, all-rounders Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar, and pacers Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj are certain to feature in the 1st Test against South Africa. Kuldeep Yadav also seems a certain candidate, given he was flown back home from Australia after the third T20I to prepare for the Test series.
This leaves three spots of contention—those of Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel, and Nitish Kumar Reddy—out of which one will be filled by Rishabh Pant. It seems all but certain that one of Sai Sudharsan, Dhruv Jurel, or Nitish Kumar Reddy will make way for Pant.
Jurel has been in a dream form recently: Jurel has notched up four centuries in his last five red-ball games—that is, one century against West Indies, one against Australia A, and two against South Africa A. He’s made a very strong case for himself to play in India’s XI even in the presence of Pant.
Against the West Indies, Sudharsan returned with scores of 7, 87, and 39, while none of his four innings against South Africa A yielded more than 40 runs.
Reddy got to bat only once against West Indies, where he played a knock of 43 runs. With the ball, he was used only one time for a spell of four overs. So there was little India gained or learned by playing Reddy in that series, after which he flew to Australia, where he played two ODIs and then got injured.
India have asserted that they want to play Reddy at home in order to settle him in the Test XI to keep him ready for the overseas tours, in particular his bowling aspect that India needs when playing in SENA countries.
IND vs SA: Who Will Rishabh Pant Replace?
While the West Indies series provided them the cushion to play Reddy, perhaps against South Africa, they would want to play the specialist batsman in Sai Sudharsan. So our conclusion: Rishabh Pant is likely to replace Nitish Kumar Reddy in India’s XI for the Tests against South Africa, while the rest of the XI remains the same.
IND vs SA: India Playing XI For 1st Test Against South Africa In Kolkata – Predicted
Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan/Nitish Kumar Reddy, Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (wk) (vc), Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav
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