Rishabh Pant handed captaincy right after his comeback to Test cricket 

Rishabh Pant is the first-choice wicket-keeper batter in the Indian side; however, since he was ruled out of the Test series, he is expected to stage his comeback with the Delhi team in the upcoming Ranji Trophy game against Himachal Pradesh. 

Currently, India is hosting the West Indies side for a two-match Test series, which is their second red-ball series following the conclusion of the England tour in the ICC World Test Championship cycle 2025-27. 

Just a few days ahead of the Ranji Trophy season, Rishabh Pant has resumed batting in the nets at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence. The batsman has, hence, recovered from his fractured foot and is ready for a comeback. 

Rishabh Pant is all set to mark his comeback with domestic cricket to audition ahead of the South Africa Tests 

Despite being the first-choice keeper of the Indian Test side, he has been snubbed from the West Indies Test series under home conditions. He also amassed 479 runs across 7 innings in the England tour, as he scored 2 hundreds and 3 half-centuries as well. 

He is all set to make his much-awaited return to the field of cricket with the upcoming Ranji Trophy. Rishabh Pant has been named in the 25-member squad named by the  Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) for the first two matches of the Ranji Trophy 2025-26.

According to a report by the Times of India, Pant is set to return to action for the match between Delhi and Himachal Pradesh, which begins on the 25th of October. This will be his first red-ball game since the last Test at Manchester.  

Will Rishabh Pant lead Delhi throughout the Ranji Trophy 2025-26?

Rishabh Pant is all set to captain the domestic side of Delhi on his return to Test cricket. This will be a Test for the Indian vice-captain, since he aims to get fully fit before being selected for the Test series vs South Africa in December. 

Even though Rishabh Pant will be the captain for the second match of the Ranji Trophy against Himachal Pradesh, which is in Group D of the Elite level of the competition. However, Ayush Badoni has been named as the skipper for the rest of the season. 

Badoni scored a stunning double-hundred in the Duleep Trophy for the North Zone, while he also played some handy innings for India A recently in the unofficial One-day series against Australia A. Yash Dhull has been named as his deputy for the season. 

Delhi Squad For First Two Ranji Trophy 2025/26 Matches

The Delhi Squad: Ayush Badoni, Yash Dhull, Arpit Rana, Navdeep Saini, Simarjeet Singh, Money Grewal, Siddhant Sharma, Dhruv Kaushik, Pranav Rajvanshi, Nitish Rana, Himmat Singh, Ayush Doseja, Sanat Sangwan, Anuj Rawat, Sumit Mathur, Shivam Sharma, Rounak Waghela, Rahul Dagar, Hrithik Shokeen, Priyansh Arya, Tejasvi, Vaibhav Khandpal, Arpit Rana, Rishabh Pant and Aryan Rana (subject to fitness).

ALSO READ: Messi India Tour 2025 Schedule, Ticket Prices, Booking Link & Full Event Details | Kolkata | Mumbai | Delhi | Ahmedabad