Rishabh Pant got hit on his right knee while keeping wickets in first innings of Bengaluru Test.
India captain Rohit Sharma gave a huge update on fitness status of keeper-batter Rishabh Pant after India lost the first Test to New Zealand in Bengaluru on October 20, 2024.
Rishabh Pant had suffered a blow to his right knee, on which he had undergone surgery after his car accident. This led to Rishabh Pant to let go of his keeping duties, with Dhruv Jurel taking over the gloves.
However, Pant faced the pain and added valuable runs with Sarfaraz Khan for India in the second innings as Rohit and co needed a huge score. Pant scored 99 runs, while Sarfaraz made 150 as India was bowled out for 462 runs.
Rishabh Pant didn’t come out to keep wickets in the second innings and many feared that he might not be fit enough to play in the second Test of the three-match series that begins in Pune on October 24.
While speaking to the media on Sunday (October 20) during the post-match press conference, Indian captain Rohit Sharma dismissed concerns over the star stumper's fitness and stated that he did not keep wickets for India in the second innings as a precaution.
According to Rohit, Pant underwent a major operation on his knee, and club management opted to be cautious after he struggled to run comfortably during his 99-run outing in the second inning.
“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. 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. So, when you are keeping, you have to bend every ball with your knee going down. And the wicket being what it was, we thought it was the right thing to do for him to stay inside and then get 100% ready for the next one,” Rohit told reporters.
When asked about Pant's batting, Rohit stated that no one knows what passes through his thoughts at the crease. He plays his own game, and team management wants to give him that freedom because he has created success with his method.
“Like I said about his innings, no one knows what goes in his mind, to be honest. He decides what he wants to do. And that is the kind of freedom we also want to give to him. Because he has produced performances with that mindset. So, I don’t think there is anything that you need to say to him. We spoke to him about it, Please understand the situation and stuff like that. But, you know, that’s Rishabh. He wants to play in a certain way. And then, you know, as a captain, as a coach, we want to back that. Because, like I said, he has produced results for us, you know, having that mindset. So, let him go and play freely,” Rohit added.
(PTI inputs)