Rishabh Pant return as India announce squad for 1st Test against Bangladesh
Mumbai, Sep 8: Rishabh Pant on Sunday returned to the Test side after nearly 20 months as India announced their 16-man squad for the opening match of the two Test series against Bangladesh starting on September 19.
Virat Kohli also returned to the Test side having missed the five-Test series against England at home earlier this year.
Having played in the second and final Test against Bangladesh at Mirpur from December 22-25, 2022, Pant had met a road accident a few days later on December 30 and made his return to top flight cricket only in IPL this year.
The 26-year-old swashbuckling batter returned to the national side in their title-winning campaign in the T20 World Cup.
However, Mohammed Shami failed to make it to the Test side even though chairman of selectors Ajit Agarkar had earlier expressed that the right-arm seamer was targeting a return in the first Test against Bangladesh.
Left-arm Uttar Pradesh seamer Yash Dayal also earned a maiden call-up to the Indian team for the opening Test.
India’s long Test season begins with the first of the two Tests against Bangladesh in Chennai, starting on September 19.
The second Test of the series will be played at the Green Park Stadium in Kanpur from September 27 to October 1.
India and Bangladesh have played 13 Tests so far in which the former has won 11 times while two have ended in draws.
Bangladesh will enter this series having recorded a historic 2-0 win over Pakistan in the opponent’s backyard whereas it will be India’s first Test assignment since beating England 4-1 at home in January-March earlier this year.
India squad for 1st 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, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Jasprit Bumrah, Yash Dayal.
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KKR defeat LSG via Super Over
Lucknow (PTI): Kolkata Knight Riders edged Lucknow Super Giants via Super Overs in a battle between two bottom-placed teams in the IPL, here on Sunday.
Chasing a modest 156, LSG suffered a batting collapse and managed to tie the contest and take it to Super Over with No. 9 Mohammed Shami striking a last-ball six against a wayward Kartik Tyagi, who leaked 16 runs in the final over.
But Sunil Narine bowled a stunning Super Over conceding just one run and taking two wickets to give KKR an easy target.
Rinku Singh then finished the chase with a boundary off first ball from Prince Yadav.
Earlier the KKR were in deep trouble with 93/7 in 15 overs but Rinku smashed a sensational 83 not out from 51 balls including four sixes in a row in the final over to lift them to 155/7.
Cameron Green (34) was the only other batter to reach double-digit scores as KKR suffered a familiar batting meltdown with Mohsin taking his maiden fifer.
In reply, LSG continued their dismal show with the bat to succumb to their fifth loss in a row.
Brief Scores:
Kolkata Knight Riders 155/7; 20 overs (Rinku Singh 83 not out, Cameron Green 34; Mohsin Khan 5/23). Lucknow Super Giants 155/8; 20 overs (Rishabh Pant 42). KKR won via Super Over.
