India wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant who got hurt while featuring in the first Test match against New Zealand has been reportedly declared fit ahead of the upcoming second Test match which is scheduled to be played at Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium in Pune. The second Test match will start from October 24 to 28.
After sustaining a knock to his knee, which had previously undergone surgery following his car accident in December 2022, Rishabh Pant immediately left the field. Dhruv Jurel stepped in as the wicketkeeper for the remainder of the match. Despite not appearing fully comfortable and occasionally hobbling between wickets, the explosive left-hander came out to bat in India's second innings, scoring 99 runs off 105 balls.
As per Indianexpress, Rishabh Pant was in pain during his knock in the Indian second innings after taking injections. However, Rishabh Pant has recovered and is fit and available for the second Test in Pune, which starts on October 24.
Captain Rohit Sharma emphasized that the team management was being particularly cautious regarding Rishabh Pant’s knees, given his significant surgeries following the life-threatening car accident. This injury had sidelined him for nearly a year and a half, prompting a careful approach to his recovery.
“He’s (Rishabh Pant) had a massive operation on his leg, so we all know what he went through,” Rohit had said after the first Test. “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” said Rohit Sharma.
Pant made his red-ball comeback in the recently concluded two-Test match series against Bangladesh where he smashed 161 runs including a century.
