NEW DELHI: Rishabh Pant’s much-anticipated return to competitive cricket after a three-month injury layoff will be the main talking point as India A take on South Africa A in a four-day match starting Thursday in Bengaluru.

Pant, who suffered a foot injury during the fourth Test against England on July 23, has been undergoing rehabilitation since and was forced to miss the home Test series against the West Indies.

Now set to lead India A in two four-day games at the BCCI CoE grounds, the wicketkeeper-batter will be eager to regain rhythm and match fitness ahead of the upcoming two-Test home series against world champions South Africa.

The 28-year-old is likely to replace Dhruv Jurel, who impressed against the West Indies, as India’s wicketkeeper-batter for the upcoming series against South Africa.

Having trained extensively at the CoE, Pant will be keen to get valuable time in the middle and test his match readiness – provided the persistent rain in the region doesn’t play 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.

Opportunity for Sudharsan

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 batsman 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’ consists of 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 turnout here 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 (from):

India A: Rishabh Pant (C, WK), Ayush Mhatre, N Jagdeesan (WK), Sai Sudharsan (VC), 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.

(With PTI Inputs)