Lucknow Super Giants captain Rishabh Pant has returned to the Indian cricket team’s Test squad for the upcoming two-match Test series against South Africa, starting on November 14.

Since suffering a fractured left foot during the fourth Test versus England in Manchester in July, India’s Test vice-captain Pant has fully recovered from his injury and proved his match fitness by leading India A to a brilliant three-wicket victory over South Africa A in the first unofficial Test of a two-match series at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru last week.

Chasing a target of 275 in the fourth innings, Pant led from the front with a match-winning 90, laced with 11 fours and four sixes.

Earlier in England, Pant emerged as one of India’s standout batters in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025. The LSG skipper dominated the England bowlers as he amassed 479 runs in four Tests at an average of 68.42, including two centuries and three fifties.

Under the leadership of captain Shubman Gill, LSG’s premier pacer Akash Deep has also been included in India’s 15-man squad for the forthcoming two-match Test series against the Proteas.

Having recovered from a back injury that had kept him out of action since his return from England, Akash Deep has played two games for Bengal in the ongoing Ranji Trophy 2025-26.

As per the India vs South Africa 2025 Test schedule, the first match will be played at the iconic Eden Gardens in Kolkata from November 14-18. Both teams will later travel to Guwahati for the second and final Test scheduled to be held at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium from November 22-26. The matches will start at 9:30 AM Indian Standard Time (IST).

Meanwhile, LSG’s star all-rounder Ayush Badoni has been picked in India A’s squad for a three-match one-day series against South Africa A. The three games will be played on November 13, 16 and 19 in Rajkot.

India's Test squad for South Africa series: Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (vice-captain & wicket-keeper), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel (wicket-keeper), Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep

India A's squad for one-dayers vs South Africa A: Tilak Varma (captain), Ruturaj Gaikwad (vice-captain), Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Ishan Kishan (wicket-keeper), Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Vipraj Nigam, Manav Suthar, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel Ahmed, Prabhsimran Singh (wicket-keeper)

Image Courtesy: BCCI