Rishabh Pant, one of India’s most explosive batsmen, will finally be back in action against South Africa A in a matter weeks for two four-day matches.
The wicket keeper-batsman sustained an injury during the fourth IND vs ENG Test earlier this year during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series in England.
After being sidelined for quite a few months, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) named him as the captain of India A for a two-match red-ball series against South Africa A today, October 21, 2025.
BCCI Reveals India A squad, Pant To Captain
Here are all the players who have been called up for the India A vs South Africa A four-day matches:
IND A vs SAF A Match 1 – Rishabh Pant (C) (WK), Ayush Mhatre, N Jagdeesan (WK), Sai Sudharsan (VC), Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Anshul Kamboj, Yash Thakur, Ayush Badoni, Saransh Jain.
IND A vs SAF A Match 2 – Rishabh Pant (C) (WK), KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Sai Sudharsan (VC), Devdutt Padikkal, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Khaleel Ahmed, Gurnoor Brar, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep.
Rishabh Pant will be the captain in both of the India A vs South Africa A four-day matches. The first will kick-off on October 30 and the other on November 6, 2025.
Both games will be played at the BCCI Centre Of Excellence. KL Rahul, Dhruv Jurel and Mohammed Siraj, who are currently in Australia for the ODI series, will join Pant for the second four-day match.
This series will play a key role in the build-up to the upcoming two-match India vs South Africa Test series, which starts from November 14, 2025. However, whether Rishabh Pant, who has been an integral part of the Indian team in the longest format, gets picked for that series remains to be seen at the moment.
