The India Test squad for the upcoming two-match series against the Proteas was announced today. India, who won their first series in the new World Test Championship (WTC 2025-27) cycle with a 2-0 whitewash over the West Indies last month, will hope to continue the momentum against the Proteas when the contest begins from November 14.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) announced a 15-member strong squad which will be led by the young Shubman Gill. Let’s take a look at the major takeaways from the recently-announced side.
While there were not much changes from the India Test Squad that faced West Indies, star wicketkeeper-batter and Test vice-captain Rishabh Pant will return to the side after being on the sidelines due to a foot injury he sustained during the England series in July. Along with Pant, Akash Deep will also be returning to the Test setup who was forced to miss the Windies series due to injury concerns.
The duo come in place of Narayan Jagadeesan and Prasidh Krishna in the squad.
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There will be a strong tussle for the No.3 spot in the India Test squad with three players in contention – Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal and Dhruv Jurel.
While Sai has been the preferred name, Padikkal has been waiting on the flanks for quite sometime and Jurel has looked in brilliant touch. Slotted in as Pant’s replacement, Jurel slammed his maiden Test ton against WI and can be included in the playing XI solely as a batter. Sai, on the other hand, had patchy displays against the West Indies but managed a highest score of 87 out of the three innings he batted. It remains to be seen if the selectors continue to extend the rope to Sai or opts for a new face.
Another big question will be over the selection of all-rounders, precisely between Axar Patel and Nitish Kumar Reddy. NKR was preferred during the West Indies series but he suffered a quadriceps injury during the Australia ODIs and had to miss the three T20Is next. While it is expected he will play in the last two Australia T20Is, whether he will be able to take on the workload of red-ball cricket remains a question.
On the other hand, playing Axar gives India an extra spinner alongisde Jaddu, Washi and Kuldeep but with Jadeja and Axar having similar roles, India will likely field Reddy if he is fit.
KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Jasprit Bumrah
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