CHENNAI: In the lead-up to the opening round of the Duleep Trophy match in Bengaluru—India A vs India B—one of the key talking points were the India players who were on a comeback trail in the longer format.
KL Rahul was playing his first red-ball game since the Hyderabad Test against England, while Rishabh Pant’s last first-class match came days before he suffered a car accident in 2022.
Then there were the youngsters who had received India caps this year—Sarfaraz Khan, Akash Deep, and Dhruv Jurel.
Four days on, as India B, led by Abhimanyu Easwaran, beat the Shubman Gill-led India A at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, the picture is clear as to what the squad for the first Test against Bangladesh, which begins in Chennai on September 19, looks like.
As the BCCI announced the squad for the first of the two-match series, all aforementioned five are included, with left-arm seamer Yash Dayal getting a maiden call-up and Axar making a comeback.
Jasprit Bumrah, too, is named in the squad, which means in all likelihood he will take the field in Chennai along with Mohammed Siraj before being rested for the second match.
As things stand, India’s top four pick themselves, and the No. 5 spot and that of the keeper are the ones in contention. This is where the conundrum of Pant or Jurel comes in.
While the former is India’s mainstay and a pillar in the longest format, the latter has held his own and proved that he belongs at the highest level.
In Bengaluru, however, Jurel did not do much as he returned with two single-digit scores. Meanwhile, Pant managed to make up for the failure in the first innings with a counter-attacking half-century in the second that was key to his team’s victory. Behind the stumps too, he looked comfortable and took seven catches in the match.
Batting alongside him in the second innings was Sarfaraz, who will be fighting for the No. 5 spot. He too did not do much in the first innings, but took the team from 22/3 to 94/4 in 9.1 overs with Pant.
The other No. 5 batter in the match, Rahul, fought in the middle, batting for more than 100 balls on both occasions. His fifty on Sunday was the lone bright spot for India A in the defeat.
All four of them—Jurel, Rahul, Pant and Sarfaraz—could make the squad for the Test series, which is likely to be picked on Monday, and the final call regarding the XI will be made in Chennai. It might come down to whether they would want Pant to play the rest of the Duleep Trophy before coming in for New Zealand Tests or play him in the Chennai match and then get rested or go back to domestic to prepare for the Australia tour.
As things stand, Bangladesh might arrive in Chennai a few days before the match, but the dates are not confirmed yet. It will be clear in the days to come.
Squad for the first Test:
Rohit Sharma (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul, Sarfaraz Khan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Dhruv Jurel (WK), Ravichandran Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Mohd. Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah and Yash Dayal.