Star Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant didn’t keep for India in the second innings of the first Test against New Zealand last week in Bengaluru due to a knee injury, which raised doubts over his fitness and availability for the remaining matches of the home series. But according to a report in Indian Express on Monday (October 21), the 27-year-old cricketer is declared fit to play in the second Test against the Black Caps, which is scheduled to take place at Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune from Thursday (October 24) onwards.
Pant hurt his knee during the second day’s play of the first India-New Zealand Test, which the hosts lost by 8 wickets on Sunday (October 20).
It has been reported that Pant was in pain during his 99-run knock in the second innings after taking injections, but he has recovered and is fit and available for the second Test in Pune.
In place of Pant, Dhurv Jurel kept wickets for India in the majority of the first Test, and there were chances of him getting a chance to play in the Pune as a wicketkeeper-batter.
While speaking to reporters during the post-match press conference on Sunday, when Indian skipper Rohit Sharma was asked about Pant’s fitness and update on knee, he said that team management didn’t want to take any risks with Pant, who returned back to competitive cricket in March 2024 after being on the sidelines for more than 14 months due to multiple injuries suffered in a road accident on December 30, 2022.
“He’s (Rishabh Pant) had a massive operation on his leg, so we all know what he went through,” Rohit had said. “He’s had a lot of minor surgeries, one big surgery on his knee, and he went through a lot of trauma, to be honest, in the last one and a half years. So, it’s just about being extra careful, not careful with him. Even when he was batting, he was not comfortably running. He was trying to only put the ball in the stands.”
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