IND vs SA: Wriddhiman Saha is Virat Kohli's keeper of choice for India ahead of Rishabh Pant for Test series
Meanwhile, Pant will be handed the role of a specialist batsman in the team.
Team India will lock horns with South Africa in a three-match Test series starting from October 2 and skipper Virat Kohli on Tuesday confirmed that wicketkeeper-batsman Wriddhiman Saha will be playing in the Test series ahead of Rishabh Pant.Pant was drafted into the side as MS Dhoni's probable future replacement for India in all three formats of the game.
Just a day before the Visakhapatnam Test, Kohli announced that Saha will be India's keeper of choice for the series despite not playing for the national side in over two years.
Meanwhile, Pant will be handed the role of a specialist batsman in the team.
“Wriddhiman Saha will keep for us in this Test series,” said Kohli in the pre-match press conference.
Other than this, Rohit Sharma's role as an opener in the series is the other talking point where the Indian team management are confident in Sharma's quality as an opener in Test cricket and Kohli also confirmed that the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 top run-scorer will be handed time to find his feet in the position.
“We are in no hurry with Rohit Sharma as opener,” Kohli said. “He will be given time and space to find his rhythm and the way he wants to play at the top.”
Teams:
India Squad: Rohit Sharma, Mayank Agarwal, Cheteshwar Pujara, Virat Kohli(c), Ajinkya Rahane, Hanuma Vihari, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ishant Sharma, Mohammed Shami, Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill, Kuldeep Yadav, Umesh Yadav.
South Africa Squad: Aiden Markram, Dean Elgar, Theunis de Bruyn, Faf du Plessis(c), Temba Bavuma, Quinton de Kock(w), Zubayr Hamza, Vernon Philander, Keshav Maharaj, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Dane Piedt, Heinrich Klaasen, Anrich Nortje, Senuran Muthusamy.