Pant’s return in focus as India A takes on South Africa A
Pant had sustained a foot injury during the fourth Test against England on July 23, and the wicketkeeper batter has been on the rehabilitation route ever since
Rishabh Pant
BENGALURU: Rishabh Pant’s return to competitive cricket after a three-month injury-enforced hiatus will be the primary focal point of India A’s four-day match against South Africa A, starting here on Thursday.
Pant had sustained a foot injury during the fourth Test against England on July 23, and the wicketkeeper batter has been on the rehabilitation route ever since.
Pant had missed the home Test series against the West Indies in this interim. But these two four-day games at the BCCI CoE grounds, in which he will lead India A, offer him the perfect chance to shed the accumulated rust ahead of the two-match Test series at home against world champion South Africa.
The 28-year-old might be replacing Dhruv Jurel, who did an excellent job against the Windies, as the wicketkeeper batter against the Proteas.
Now, Pant, who has been practicing at the CoE, will be eager to spend some quality time on the field in a real match situation unless the persistent rain in this part plays spoilsport.
The low on experience South Africa A bowling unit, except off-spinner Prenelan Subrayen, might not pose too many tough questions to Pant on his comeback, and the pitch here too does not hide too many gremlins in it.
Besides sharpening his batting, Pant will also be eager to bring his wicketkeeping back to shape considering he will have to guard against top-quality operators like Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav in the Test series.
In that context, a set of capable India A spinners such as Saransh Jain, Manav Suthar and Harsh Dubey will give him a good workout.
India ‘A’ consists of hopefuls such as Khaleel Ahmed, Anshul Kamboj, Devdutt Padikkal, Narayan Jagadeesan etc.
Both Devdutt and Jagadeesan were in the India squad for the series against the West Indies, and they will be eyeing a fruitful outing here to keep themselves in contention for a senior team spot as and when it opens up.
Pacers like Khaleel and Kamboj too do not have any immediate opening in front of them, but a good turnout here will keep them in the selectors’ radar.