India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate all but confirmed the home side's playing XI for the first Test against South Africa, starting November 14 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
Dhruv Jurel to keep his spot
After missing out on the West Indies series due to injury, Rishabh Pant is back in the Test squad as the vice-captain. Naturally, this raised doubts on whether Dhruv Jurel, who kept wickets in Pant's absence, would hold on to his spot. However, Doeschate confirmed two days ahead of the match that Jurel will indeed play alongside Pant at Kolkata.
"I don't think we can leave him out for this Test, is the short answer," India's assistant coach said. "But obviously, you have to pick your XI as well, so someone else will have to miss out.
"I think we've got a pretty good idea of the combination. And given the way Dhruv's gone in the last six months, you know, scoring two hundreds in Bangalore last week. He is certain to play this week."
Nitish Kumar Reddy to make way for Pant
The India coach also went on to confirm that Nitish Kumar Reddy will miss the first Test. The all-rounder featured in both Tests against the West Indies, but had little role to play with either bat or ball. With Pant returning and Jurel making himself undroppable given his form, the axe is set to fall on Reddy.
"Strategy comes first. The primary thing is to set our strategy to win the game. Then if you can accommodate giving guys chances for development, that comes in.
"Our position certaintly hasn't changed on Nitish. He didn't get much game time in Australia. But I would say, given the importance of this series and given the conditions we think we're going to face, he might miss out in this Test this week."
With the rest of the lineup expected to remain the same, this all but confirms India's XI for the first Kolkata Test, unless something changes over the next two days.
India's expected XI for first Test against South Africa: KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, B Sai Sudharsan, Shubman Gill (c), Rishabh Pant (vc) (wk), Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj.
