India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant wasn't able to make much of an impact after his much-awaited return to competitive cricket and lost his wicket cheaply. Pant, who is captaining India A in the two-match four-day series against South Africa A, failed to contribute well in the batting department and lost his wicket for just 17 runs at BCCI's Centre of Excellence (CoE).
Pant came out to bat at No.5 after India A had lost Sai Sudharsan for 32 runs. Though he did score two fine boundaries and looked to be in good touch, he wasn't able to continue his innings for long and was dismissed by pacer Okuhle Cele as India A got restricted to 157/4.
Pant has missed many matches for India
Notably, Pant had been on the sidelines ever since he sustained a toe fracture during the fourth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy against England held in July. He ended up missing quite some assignments with the Men in Blue during the time has was recovering. Not only was he not named in India's squad for the two-match Test series against West Indies, but also missed the white-ball tour of Australia.
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Meanwhile, India A had bundled out South Africa A for 309 runs in the first innings with Tanush Kotian being the top performer in the bowling department and recording figures of 4/83. He was assisted well by the duo of Manav Suthar and Gurnoor Brar, both of whom picked up two scalps each. For the Proteas, Jordan Hermann (71), Zubayr Hamza (66) and Rubin Hermann (54) scored valiant half-centuries as they posted a decent first-inning total.
Mhatre plays splendid knock
In reply, India A had a strong start with openers Sudharsan and Ayush Mhatre playing sensibly. The latter proved to be the aggressor among the two and scored a brilliant half-century. However, he wasn't able to go much further and got dismissed for 65 runs. Both Devdutt Padikkal and Rajat Patidar also weren't able to do much and lost their wickets for 6 and 19 respectively. The hosts had lost five of their wickets for a score of 159 and now it remains to be seen if they manage to take the lead or not.