Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant on Wednesday made a much-anticipated return to India's Test squad for the upcoming home two-Test series against South Africa, marking his comeback to international cricket after recovering from a foot fracture.
Pant had sustained the injury during the fourth Test against England in Manchester in July and was forced out of the two-match series against the West Indies.
The 26-year-old impact batter recently captained India A to win over South Africa A in a four-day game in Bengaluru, scoring 90 in the second innings in a chase of 275.
He replaced N Jagadeesan in the 15-man squad led by Shubhman Gill.
Also earning a recall to Test fold was Bengal pacer Akash Deep after recovering from a shoulder injury. He recently made a comeback to competitive cricket by playing for Bengal in the Ranji Trophy and Irani Trophy.
He is also part of India A squad that will take on South Africa A in second four-day game, starting Thursday in Bengaluru.
India's pace attack features Jasprit Bumrah and Mohammed Siraj, while the spin department will once again rely on veteran Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav and Washington Sundar.
Mohammed Shami was not picked for the two-Test series, despite proving his fitness by playing three successive Ranji Trophy games for Bengal -- claiming 15 wickets at an average of 15.53.
The first Test will be played in Kolkata from November 14, followed by the second in Guwahati from November 22.
India's Test squad: Shubman Gill (Captain), Rishabh Pant (vice-captain, w/k), Yashasvi Jaiswal, K L Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep.
The Selection Committee has also picked India A’s squad for the three-match one-day series to be held in Rajkot against South Africa A.
India A's squad for one-day team: Tilak Varma (Captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Ishan Kishan (w/k), Prabhsimran Singh (w/k), Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Vipraj Nigam, Manav Suthar, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed.