Pant returns to India squad for S Africa Tests

Rishabh Pant has returned to India's Test squad for the two-match series against South Africa and has been reinstated as vice-captain. Pant was Shubman Gill's deputy during the England series before a foot injury in the fourth Test ruled him out, forcing him to miss the Oval Test and the two-match home series against the West Indies, reports Cricbuzz.

The Indian senior men's selection panel, led by Ajit Agarkar, announced a 15-member squad which sees the omission of Prasidh Krishna and N Jagadeesan. Apart from Pant, Akash Deep is the other addition to the squad that featured in the recent Test series against the West Indies.

Pant had suffered a fractured foot in July, when he attempted to reverse-sweep a Chris Woakes delivery in Manchester. The injury, aggravated after his decision to bat with an injured foot, kept him out of action for a lengthy period and he recently returned to active cricket when he featured in the four-day game for India A against South Africa A at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.

India Test squad: Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (WK) (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep Pant, who led India A, scored a crucial 90 in the second innings to take his team to a three-wicket victory.