Shubman Gill started his tenure as India’s Test captain with a hard-fought series against England before beating the West Indies 2-0 at home.
A busy international calendar has left little room to breathe for India’s core group. Just hours after the T20I series in Australia wrapped up with a rain-hit finish in Brisbane, Shubman Gill, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel and Washington Sundar boarded a direct flight to Kolkata to join the Test squad ahead of the first India vs South Africa Test starting November 14 at Eden Gardens.
The quartet, part of both white-ball and red-ball setups, will check in by Sunday evening alongside the full South African contingent. The rest of India’s Test players, including KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja and Mohammed Siraj, will arrive in batches on Monday, with the first full training session slated for Tuesday.
Interestingly, multiple players in the Test squad, including Pant, Sudharsan, Rahul, Padikkal, Jurel, Siraj, Kuldeep and Akash Deep, are currently part of India A’s playing XI, featuring against South Africa A. The Eden Test marks the continuation of India’s home leg in the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle. In an encouraging series, India drew 2-2 against England earlier this year and followed it up with a 2-0 sweep of the West Indies, setting a strong base for the 2025–27 campaign.
From T20Is to IND vs SA Tests
India’s quick shift from T20 cricket to the red-ball format has become a familiar rhythm for players like Bumrah and Gill. Bumrah, who featured sparingly in white-ball games to manage workload, will now lead India’s pace attack against a South African unit that hasn’t won a Test in India since 2015.
South Africa, arriving with a full-strength squad, will begin training from Monday as well. The second Test of the series will be played in Guwahati from November 22. The last time these two sides met in a Test series, it ended 1-1 in South Africa, but the equation will be very different this time. Spinning conditions, a new Indian leader, and a squad eager to build on early WTC momentum. Having said that, Kolkata and Guwahati venues may have more for pacers than spinners!
India squad for IND vs SA Tests
Shubman Gill (C), Rishabh Pant (WK) (VC), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Devdutt Padikkal, Dhruv Jurel, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Jasprit Bumrah, Axar Patel, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep
Editor’s Pick
Cricket
IND vs AUS series wrapped up, 10 matches to go for T20 World Cup 2026 but questions remain
Top Stories
