The all-rounder Nitish Reddy has been released from India’s squad for the first test against South Africa in Kolkata.

He will be joining the India A side for the ODI series against South Africa A in Rajkot, scheduled between November 13 and 19. He will be returning to the senior squad for the second test in Guwahati, starting November 22.

Shubman Gill-led side is set to play their next test assignment in the South Africa tour of India 2025, starting in the second week of November.

Nitish Reddy has been an integral part of India’s test squad for future overseas tours. However, he got only limited options during India’s recent clean sweep win against the West Indies.

His release will give a window for Dhruv Jurel, who kept wickets during the test series against West Indies in the absence of Rishabh Pant. He has been in red-hot form, hitting two unbeaten centuries against South Africa A, and his hundreds against West Indies in Ahmedabad and Australia A in Lucknow.

With Rishabh Pant returning to action after his foot injury, along with Dhruv Jurel could significantly boast India’s batting power ahead of the series opener.

Speaking to the media, Ryan ten Doeschate said, “I don’t think you can leave him (Jurel) out for this Test, is the short answer.”

“But obviously, you can only pick XI as well, so someone else will have to miss out. I think we’ve got a pretty good idea of the combination. And given the way Dhruv’s gone in the last six months and scoring two 100s in Bangalore last week, he’s certain to play this week,” ten Doeschate added.

India’s Squad for first Test: 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, Mohammed Siraj, Kuldeep Yadav, Akash Deep

India A Squad for South Africa A ODIs: Tilak Varma (C), Ruturaj Gaikwad (VC), Abhishek Sharma, Riyan Parag, Ishan Kishan (WK), Ayush Badoni, Nishant Sindhu, Vipraj Nigam, Manav Suthar, Harshit Rana, Arshdeep Singh, Prasidh Krishna, Khaleel AhmedPrabhsimran Singh (WK), Nitish Kumar Reddy