Indian wicket-keeper batsman Rishabh Pant is all set to make a comeback in the Indian Test squad through the Bangladesh series. According to reports in Sports Tak, it has been learnt that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) will announce the squad for the two-match series next month.
India and Bangladesh will face each other in a two-match Test series. The matches will also be part of the ICC World Test Championship.
This will be the first time that Team India will play red-ball cricket since March 2024. Bangladesh would be high on confidence, having won the series in Pakistan.
Reports have indicated that the Indian squad for the Bangladesh Test series will hardly see any major changes. The Board of Cricket Control in India is unlikely to make any surprise inclusions in the squad for the two-match Test series.
A source close to the same website claimed that performances in the first round of the 2024 Duleep Trophy, which begins on September 5, will not matter much. The BCCI is keen to give more time to the young players who were part of the Test series against England.
Rohit Sharma and Yashasvi Jaiswal are expected to be India’s two openers in the Test series against Bangladesh. On the other hand, Virat Kohli will make his comeback to the team in the Tests. He missed the series against England due to family reasons as his wife gave birth to a child.
Reports claimed that Sarfaraz Khan would also be in the mix while the trio of Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are likely to be the three spin-bowling all-rounders along with Kuldeep Yadav, who will be the wrist spinner in the team.
Rishabh Pant to return to action after 634 days
The focus will be on Rishabh Pant, who will return to the Test squad after 634 days. The wicketkeeper-batsman last played red-ball cricket for India during the series against the Bangladesh National Cricket Team in 2022.
After that, he suffered a terrible accident and was then out of action for over a year, also missing the World Trials Championship Final.
Pant then returned to cricket through the IPL 2024 and also made his comeback for the Indian team in the 2024 T20 World Cup. He played a decent role for the team and then also made his return to the ODIs in the last game of the three-match series against the Sri Lanka National Cricket Team.
The upcoming Duleep Trophy will mark the return of Rishabh Pant to red-ball cricket. He will be extremely important for the team going forward, especially with the Border-Gavaskar Trophy, in which India will play a five-match Test series against the Australian National Cricket Team.
Reports claimed that Dhurv Jurel would be the second wicket-keeper of the team while Mohammed Siraj and Mukesh Kumar will be the two frontline players of the team. There will be a fight between Akash Deep and Arshdeep Singh for the last remaining spot.
