India vs South Africa 2025: Top 5 Players Who Deserved a Spot

India announced their Test squad for the two-match series against South Africa at home. Rishabh Pant is back after recovering from a foot injury he got during the England tour. Only two changes were made from the squad that played against the West Indies last month. However, some players who deserved a place still missed out.

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Sarfaraz Khan Batsman

Sarfaraz Khan's absence from the Indian Test team is a big mystery. It is currently unknown why and how we went down the pecking order, especially after smashing 150 runs in the first Test against New Zealand in the series that India lost 0-3 at home. He didn't play a single game on the Australia tour and was dropped for the England Test series despite scoring 92 runs for India A against England Lions. However, his form in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season is not great, with not a single fifty in five innings so far.

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Karun Nair Batsman

Karun Nair is an Indian cricketer.

Middle-order batter Karun Nair was quite shockingly omitted from the Test squad. He had disappointing performances on the England tour with just one fifty. From that point, he has played very well in domestic cricket. Nair has had so many outstanding performances in the 2024–25 Ranji Trophy to kick off the season that he earned his shot in the Anderson–Tendulkar Trophy. As he rejoined Karnataka for the ongoing Ranji season, he scored 73 against Saurashtra, followed by an unbeaten 174* against Goa, and then a spectacular 233 against Kerala.

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Mohammed Shami Bowler

Mohammed Shami, a fast bowler for India, has achieved several notable achievements in his career.

Mohammed Shami has time and again openly claimed that he is fit and playing domestic cricket comfortably. He also criticised the management, claiming that no one has communicated to him asking him about his fitness. However, he has proved his match fitness time and again and has also done well in the first three rounds of the Ranji Trophy, picking 15 wickets in five innings, including a five-wicket haul as well. Shami deserves to get another chance in the Indian team, but at the moment, there doesn't seem to be a place for him.

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Rajat Patidar Batter

Rajat Patidar, a right-handed batsman and right arm off-break bowler, made his international debut for India in 2024.

RCB captain Rajat Patidar has been playing very well in domestic cricket and has shown good leadership. Despite his recent success, he was not picked for the Test squad. Patidar led Central Zone to win the Duleep Trophy, scoring important runs of 125, 66 (against North East Zone), and 101 (against South Zone). He also captained the Rest of India side in the Irani Cup, where he contributed 66 runs. In the 2025–26 Ranji Trophy, he continued his purple patch, scoring an unbeaten 205* for Madhya Pradesh against Punjab, and is currently part of the India A squad facing South Africa A.

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Prasidh Krishna Bowler

Prasidh Krishna, a right-handed batsman and right-arm fast bowler, made his international cricket debut in 2023.

Prasidh Krishna has been left out of India’s Test squad after not playing in the series against the West Indies. His last Test was the fifth match against England at Oval in August. He has been selected for the India A squad for the ODI series against Australia A. As for why he was not picked for the Test team, there’s no clear answer.

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PRS-W vs SYS-W 3rd T20I: Where to Watch Perth Scorchers Women vs Sydney Sixers Women, H2H, Playing 11 & Full Match Details The Perth Scorchers Women will take on the Sydney Sixers Women at 3:00 PM on 9 November in the third match of WBBL 2025.

by Dwijesh November 7, 2025