Rishabh Pant returns to Indian Test squad for first Test against Bangladesh

Rishabh Pant was included in India’s 16-man squad for the first Test against Bangladesh. The swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batter made a comeback into the Indian Test squad in nearly 20 months after he suffered injuries in a horrific car crash in 2022.

The men’s senior selection committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) also included former skipper Virat Kohli in the squad. Kohli opted out of the five-match Test series against England earlier this year for personal reasons.

Yash Dayal earned a maiden call-up to the Indian team and the surprise was the omission of Mohammed Shami, who the selectors had said that he was primed to feature in the Test series against Bangladesh.

The team will be led by Rohit Sharma with no vice-captain announced by the selectors. Apart from Pant, Dhruv Jorel has also been included as the wicket-keeper in the squad.

Yashaswi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Mohammed Siraj and Jasprit Bumrah also retain their places in the Indian Test team.

The first Test against Bangladesh starts at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on September 19.

The Bangladesh series marks the commencement of India’s new season for 2024-25. After playing two Test matches – first in Chennai from September 19 to 23 and second in Kanpur from September 27 to October 1, 2024 – India and Bangladesh will square off in three T20 internationals.

The senior selection committee said the team for the second Test match and the T20s will be selected later.

After recovering from his injuries, Pant played in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and later returned to India’s limited overs squad for the T20 World Cup in June earlier this year. He played an integral part in India’s title win.

India have an impeccable record against Bangladesh in Test matches. The two nations, neighbours, have met 13 times in Test cricket so far with India winning 11 out of them. Two Test matches have ended in draws.

Bangladesh will be high on confidence after beating Pakistan 2-0 at Rawalpindi in August and September. For India, this will be their first five-day match after beating England 4-1 in January to March this year.

India squad for 1st Test against Bangladesh: Rohit Sharma (captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (wk), Dhruv Jurel (wk), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah and Yash Dayal.