Losing the Test against New Zealand at home after 36 years was always going to be a haunting period for India, who will now have to ponder over the injury status of Rishabh Pant, their swashbuckling wicket-keeper batter, who carries the ability and quality to change any game from any certain point of time, irrespective of the format, or mostly against the red-ball.
Rishabh Pant had a fatal injury because of his unfortunate accident at the end of 2022 after they finished their trip to Bangladesh. He missed the entire action of the 2023 year, including the ODI World Cup at home, before making a return to the team before the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.
A decent time with the Delhi Capitals improved his numbers and pushed him to play in the Men’s T20 World Cup 2024 in the West Indies and the United States of America (USA). But the question was always about his comeback in the longest format of the game, keeping in mind the upcoming Border Gavaskar Trophy (BGT) 2024-25 in Australia.
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Rishabh Pant marked his Test comeback against Bangladesh to start the home season of 2024 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai and smashed a century in the second innings of the contest, along with Shubman Gill. He looked in good touch even during the second Test match in Kanpur.
Rishabh Pant could miss Pune Test; Shubman Gill set to return
In the first innings of the Bengaluru Test against the Tom Latham-led side, Pant was the highest run-getter for India, who was blown away for only 46, their third-lowest innings total in the format. However, the injury happened in their bowling of the first innings.
Rishabh Pant was keeping the wickets when a quick delivery from Ravindra Jadeja, which the left-handed opening batter Devon Conway missed, went on to smash the knees of the Delhi-born. It was also the same knee that underwent an operation, as the veteran looked in serious trouble.
The speculation was that he could end up missing the rest of the game. But, at the beginning of the fourth day’s play, he walked out into the middle with Sarfaraz Khan and put up a 177-run partnership for the fourth wicket, where he nailed some incredible shots around the park, both against the pacers and spinners.
Rishabh Pant, however, missed out on his well-deserved century by one run, with the help of 18 boundaries and three sixes at a strike rate of nearly 80.
The Indian captain, Rohit Sharma, at the post-match press conference, remarked that they wanted to be a little more careful about the wicket-keeper’s injury, and that was the reason why Dhruv Jurel kept wickets since the injury.
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“He (Rishabh Pant) had a massive operation on his leg. So, we all know what he went through. It’s just to be a little careful about where he is at and what he is to us. Even when he was batting, he was not comfortably running. He was trying to only put the ball in the stands. But, again, with someone like him, we just need to be extra careful. Because he has had a lot of minor surgeries, one big surgery on his knee.” Rohit expressed at the presser.
On a brighter note, the preferred number-three batter for India, Shubman Gill, has recovered from his stiff neck and is set to return for the second Pune Test, which starts on October 24. After the end of the first Test, he batted against the net bowlers for more than an hour and showed no signs of discomfort.