Rishabh Pant’s return to competitive cricket after a three-month break due to injury will be the main attraction in the four-day unofficial Test match between India A and South Africa A starting here on Thursday.
Pant suffered a leg injury during the fourth Test against England on July 23 and the wicketkeeper batsman has been undergoing rehabilitation process since then.
Meanwhile, Pant could not play in the home Test series against West Indies, but the two unofficial Test matches to be held at BCCI’s COE ground will give him an important opportunity for match practice before the two-match Test series against world champions South Africa at home. He will also captain India A in these matches against South Africa A.
This 28-year-old player can replace Dhruv Jurel in the senior team, who performed brilliantly against West Indies. He will play as a wicketkeeper batsman against South Africa.
Pant will be keen to spend some quality time on the field in actual match conditions, provided incessant rain in this stretch does not disrupt play.
Barring off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen, South Africa A’s less experienced bowling unit cannot cause much trouble for Pant on his return. The pitch here is also suitable for batting.
Apart from improving his batting, Pant will also be keen to improve his wicket-keeping as in the Test series, he will have to fulfill his responsibilities behind the wicket in front of top-class bowlers like Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav.
In this context, he will get a chance to practice well in front of spinners like Saransh Jain, Manav Suthar and Harsh Dubey.
Sai Sudarshan played his last match in the second Test against West Indies in Delhi earlier this month and these two matches will provide him an opportunity to sharpen his game before the Test series against South Africa.
This batsman from Tamil Nadu has currently confirmed his place at number three but he has not been able to convert his good start into a big score. He will be desperate to play big innings here.
Apart from Pant and Sudarshan, India A team also includes players like Khalil Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Devdutt Padikkal, Narayan Jagadeesan who will be desperate to leave their impact.
As far as South Africa is concerned, it will keep an eye on the performance of Zubair Hamza, who has been recalled to the Test team after a gap of almost two years. Hamza is in good form at the moment and has scored two centuries and two half-centuries in the last six first-class matches.
The teams are as follows:
India A: Rishabh Pant (captain, wk), Ayush Mhatre, N Jagadeesan (wk), Sai Sudarshan (vice-captain), Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Khalil Ahmed, Gurnoor Brar, Anshul Kamboj, Yash Thakur, Ayush Badoni, Saransh Jain.
South Africa A: Marques Ackerman, Temba Bavuma (only for the second four-day match), Okuhle Cele, Zubair Hamzah, Jordan Harman, Rubin Harman, Rivaldo Moonsamy, Tshepo Moreki, Mihalali Mpongwana, Lesego Senokwane, Prenlan Subraine, Kyle Simmonds, Tshepo Ndwandwa, Jason Smith, Tian Wan. Wuren, Cody Joseph. The match will start at 9.30 am.
