Dhruv Jurel is set to retain his place in India's Test XI despite Rishabh Pant taking back his spot as wicketkeeper. Allrounder Nitish Kumar Reddy is set to make way for Pant, who returns after missing the two Tests against West Indies last month with a fractured foot.
India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate more or less confirmed this in his press conference two days out from the start of the first Test against South Africa in Kolkata.
Jurel played the West Indies series in Pant's absence and scored his maiden Test hundred in the first Test in Ahmedabad. That innings came in the middle of a run of four hundreds in eight first-class innings, including one in each innings of India A's second unofficial Test against South Africa A in Bengaluru last week.
"I don't think you can leave him out for this Test, is the short answer," ten Doeschate said when asked about Jurel's run of form. "But obviously, you can only pick 11 as well, so someone else will have to miss out. I think we've got a pretty good idea of the combination."
Having three spin-bowling allrounders in the squad in Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar and Axar Patel, ten Doeschate said, gave India the flexibility that would allow them to play an extra batter in Jurel without losing potency with the ball.
"Given the way Dhruv's gone in the last six months, scoring two hundreds in Bangalore last week, he's certain to play this week. Again, like what I mentioned about Washy [Washington Sundar], Axar [Patel], Jaddu [Ravindra Jadeja], for me, you've actually got three batters there. So it does give us a lot of flexibility. But I'd be very surprised if we don't see Dhruv and Rishabh playing in this Test this week."
India played three allrounders in the West Indies series, in Jadeja, Washington and Reddy. In that, Reddy only batted once and bowled just four overs. He went on the white-ball tour of Australia after that, but a back injury cut short his participation to just the first two ODIs. He has since recovered, though, and is fit to play in Kolkata.
Through the West Indies series, India said they were looking at Reddy as a long-term prospect as a seam-bowling allrounder, and were looking to give him as much game time as possible, even in home Tests, to help him grow as a Test cricketer. This series against South Africa, the World Test Championship [WTC] holders, may not give India the chance to pick a player with an eye on long-term development.
"The primary thing is to set out a strategy to win the game, and then if you can accommodate giving guys a chance for development, that comes in," ten Doeschate said. "Our position certainly hasn't changed on Nitish. He didn't get much game time in [the white-ball series in] Australia, but I would say, given the importance of the series and given the conditions we think we're going to face, he might miss out in this Test this week."
South Africa come to India on the back of a 1-1 Test result in Pakistan, where their three main spinners - Keshav Maharaj, Simon Harmer and Senuran Muthusamy - picked up 33 wickets between them in two Tests, with all three averaging below 22. Ten Doeschate felt these three would present a stiff challenge, and said India's batters were looking to improve how they play spin, particularly in the wake of last year's 3-0 home-series defeat to New Zealand.
"[M]ost likely they'll play three [spinners], and it's a little bit like playing against a subcontinent team," ten Doeschate said. "You normally worry about the pace attack first [when you face South Africa]. And I'm pretty sure they'll go with two seamers and three [...] spinners.
"But that is also the challenge when you're playing in the subcontinent. It's something as a team that we need to get better [at]. We addressed it early on. We've come up short a few times, so it's a great challenge. Hopefully we've learned from the New Zealand series. We've put some plans into place [about] how to play the spin. And you're right, it's going to be so important over these two games, particularly how well they did in Pakistan about four weeks ago."