IND vs BAN: Rishabh Pant makes roaring comeback to international cricket with a blistering fifty in T20 World Cup warm-up vs Bangladesh

India's star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant smashed a fifty in his first international outing after sixteen months in the ongoing T20 World Cup 2024 warm-up clash against Bangladesh on June 1. Pant missed international cricket since 2022 after he met with a near-death accident while driving back home. 

After Sanju Samson's early dismissal in India's warm-up clash against Bangladesh, Pant paired up with Rohit to steady Men in Blue's boat. The wicketkeeper batter was looking confident throughout his innings. Before retiring out he cracked 53 runs in just 32 balls at Nassau County International Cricket Stadium, New York. 

Rishabh Pant's last international outing

Pant last played an international game in December 2022 in the Test series against Bangladesh where 93 and nine runs and India won that match by three wickets. The wicketkeeper batter got his place cemented in the World Cup squad because of his performance in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Rishabh Pant in IPL 2024

Before his international comeback, Pant captained Delhi Capitals (DC) in the recently concluded season of the IPL 2024 where he scored 446 runs in his 13 outings including three half-centuries with a strike rate of 155.40. Pant was the highest run-getter of his franchise. 

Coming back to the match, India captain Rohit Sharma opted to bat first after winning the toss against Bangladesh and confirmed that Virat Kohli will not feature in the warm-up match. 

"We will bat. Not for any particular reason, conditions here look a bit challenging. Virat has just arrived yesterday, he's going to miss out, the rest are all available and we'll see how to use them. We arrived quite early, so the body clock has adjusted, we just have to see how well we can adjust to these conditions," said Rohit Sharma after winning the toss.

Bangladesh captain Najmul Hossain Shanto also revealed that Taskin and Mustafizur will be rested for the clash. 

“We would have bowled, we'll have to adjust the conditions and I want to know how the bowlers do. The boys have enjoyed themselves so far here, we are going to play with 13 players - Taskin and Mustafizur have been rested,” said Najmul Hossain Shanto.
 

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IND vs BAN Line-ups
 

India's (Batting 11, Fielding 11): Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Suryakumar Yadav, Sanju Samson, Hardik Pandya, Rishabh Pant(w), Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Arshdeep Singh, Yuzvendra Chahal

Bangladesh (Batting 11, Fielding 11): Litton Das, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto(c), Towhid Hridoy, Shakib Al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Jaker Ali(w), Mahedi Hasan, Rishad Hossain, Shoriful Islam, Tanzid Hasan, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Tanvir Islam.

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