Pant's return in focus as India A take on South Africa

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 in Bengaluru, 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's Centre of Excellence grounds in Bengaluru, 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 champions South Africa.

The 28-year-old is set to take over the gloves from Dhruv Jurel, who did an excellent job in the two-Test series against the West Indies.

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.

Sai Sudharsan's last outing was in the second Test against the West Indies in Delhi earlier

this month, and these two 'A' games will give him valuable match time ahead of the South Africa series.

The Tamil Nadu batter seemed to have occupied the No. 3 slot for the time being but he would definitely like a big score against his name sooner than later.

While the 24-year-old has shown glimpses of his talent, he has only two fifties across nine innings, and the left-hander will be keen to use the matches against South Africa A to further polish his game.

Other than these two players. India 'A' includes Test 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 showing in this match will keep them in the selectors' radar.

From a South African perspective, they will be monitoring the performance of Zubayr Hamza, who has been recalled to the Test side after a near two-year gap.

Hamza has been in reasonable touch of late, scoring two hundreds and two fifties in his last six first-class matches.

Teams: 

India A: Rishabh Pant (Captain, w/k), Ayush Mhatre, N Jagdeesan (w/k), Sai Sudharsan (vice-captain), Devdutt Padikkal, Rajat Patidar, Harsh Dubey, Tanush Kotian, Manav Suthar, Khaleel Ahmed, Gurnoor Brar, Anshul Kamboj, Yash Thakur, Ayush Badoni, Saransh Jain.

South Africa A: Marques Ackerman, Temba Bavuma, (only for second four-day match), Okuhle Cele, Zubayr Hamza, Jordan Hermann, Rubin Hermann, Rivaldo Moonsamy, Tshepo Moreki, Mihlali Mpongwana, Lesego Senokwane, Prenelan Subrayen, Kyle Simmonds, Tsepo Ndwandwa, Jason Smith, Tiaan van Vuuren, Codi Yusuf.

Match starts at 9.30am IST.