The PCB faced a long delay getting visas for the Indian and South African broadcasting crew members but finally got visas for them on Thursday before the landing permission issue cropped up.
In the absence of national regulars, the focus will shift on the likes of Rinku, who was surprisingly not picked for the first round despite having an impressive first-class record.
Pakistani players made a prolonged appeal but umpire Marais Erasmus was not convinced.
The trio will replace Faheem Ashraf, Junaid Khan and Abid Ali after selectors spoke with skipper Sarfaraz Ahmed and coach Mickey Arthur following Pakistan's 4-0 defeat by England in their recent ODI series.
Rishabh Pant last played a Test match in December 2022 before a serious car crash saw him sidelined for nearly two years.
Some in the Pakistan media questioned whether Sarfaraz got the support he needed from his senior players.
While the pace department needs some urgent solutions, the spin has a slightly different landscape.
Pakistan head coach Misbah-ul-Haq and bowling coach Waqar Younis have stepped down from their respective roles, the country's cricket board (PCB) said on Monday.
Bypolls are due in Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Telangana, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu
The pace trio of Yash Dayal, Mukesh Kumar and Navdeep Saini did the damage with the ball as India B outclassed India A by 76 runs in the Duleep Trophy.
As many as four world-class match-winners are expected to bid adieu to the game one by one in the next couple of years and Gautam Gambhir is in an unenviable position as head coach.
The Mumbai batter lit the Chinnaswamy stadium with his brilliant batting.
Rahul will come in place of Baba Indrajith, who scored 9 and 6 and didn't look comfortable at all against pace and bounce, which wasn't exactly 125 clicks.
Teammates have advised Babar Azam not to step down: PCB sources
'We have the belief that we will win our next two games and then look ahead'
Sarfaraz Ahmed said that the PCB left it to the players to make the final call on travelling to England for the Test and T20 series.
India need to change its policy of mixing sports with politics.
Calls have grown for Babar to be removed from 50-over captaincy following the shocking eight-wicket loss to Afghanistan in Chennai.
Bangladesh captain Mahmudullah took three wickets in the last over to finish with 3 for 10 from his solitary over.
Afghan has now recorded 42 wins in T20I format and has surpassed Dhoni's tally of 41 victories.
Legislators of the ruling coalition partners in Jharkhand expressed solidarity with the Hemant Soren government on Wednesday and said the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha leader will continue as the chief minister.
India would want their big guns Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma to fire when the mighty hosts aim for a clean sweep against a beleaguered Bangladesh in the second and final Test starting in Kanpur on Friday.
Former Pakistan players tore into captain Babar Azam and other players for their poor performance in World Cup 2023.
'Eventually it's a game of bat and ball and that's what you need to focus on'
A Pakistan army regular who sneaked into India in Kupwara was today handed over to the authorities in his country.
With the series locked at 1-1, Brisbane could well decide the course of the rubber and whether Rohit's men would continue to be the master of their fate in the ongoing World Test Championship.
This was the fourth change to Pakistan's original squad, coming a day after they drafted in former captain Sarfaraz Ahmed, Haider Ali and Fakhar Zaman.
The Pakistan cricket squad was allowed to leave their managed isolation facility in Christchurch after getting clearance from New Zealand's Health Ministry on Tuesday.
Pakistani selectors are under pressure from skipper Misbah ul Haq to include glovesman Adnan Akmal and an extra pacer in the touring squad for the Test series in South Africa.
The second Test, also in Karachi, begins on Monday.
Seniors Rohit Sharma,Virat Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and Ravichandran Ashwin received exemptions for the Duleep Trophy, starting in Bengaluru on September 5.
India fast bowler Mohammed Siraj was ruled out of the upcoming Duleep Trophy because of illness.
India's batting is a major concern with Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli struggling for runs ahead of the tour of Australia.
Musheer Khan, younger brother of Sarfaraz Khan (9), saved his side from a total collapse with an innings of rare maturity that belied his 19 tender years.
Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal and his brothers Adnan and Umar have been axed from the Pakistan squad for the three-Test tour of South Africa beginning next month.
Sri Lanka registered a 35-run victory over Pakistan in the second T20I
How the India Test regulars and discards fared over the first two days in the opening round matches of Duleep Trophy.
Suryakumar Yadav will miss the first round match after suffering a a sprain to his right thumb.
Arthur, 51, took charge of a mercurial Pakistan side in 2016 following his stints with the national teams of South Africa and Australia and, according to local media reports, was keen on an extension.
Ben Stokes is notably absent from the list of 1,574 players who have registered for the IPL 2025 mega auction, scheduled for November 24 and 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
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