Rishabh Pant failed a fitness assessment at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on Sunday and will be tested again within the next two days before a decision on whether he travels to New Zealand, ESPNcricinfo reported, in a story carried by ANI. Pant has been out with a side strain picked up in the Irani Cup in early October.
The timing is tight. If he passes, his only chance of a first-class game before the first Test in Wellington on 19 November is India A’s four-day match in Lincoln, which starts on 7 November.
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Key points
- Pant did not pass a fitness assessment at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on Sunday
- The BCCI medical team is expected to test him again within two days
- If cleared, he is likely to join India A for the four-day match in Lincoln from 7 November
Where Pant’s recovery stands
Pant has been doing his rehabilitation at the Centre of Excellence since 23 October and has reportedly started batting and keeping again. The selectors named him in both the India A squad and the senior Test squad for New Zealand, subject to fitness, but he missed the first two four-day games against New Zealand A.
India’s coach was not giving anything away. Asked about Pant after India took the T20I series 3-2 in Hamilton, Gautam Gambhir said: “At the moment I have no information, and once I get it, we’ll share it with you.”
Jurel already has the gloves
India have not been short of a keeper on tour. Dhruv Jurel, who is also in the Test squad, has captained India A and kept wicket in the New Zealand A games. Kumar Kushagra was added to the India A squad as cover for the first two matches but did not play.
That makes the next 48 hours more about Pant’s place in Wellington than about India’s cover. A keeper-batter coming off a side strain, with at most one four-day game behind him, would be a bigger risk on a New Zealand tour than Jurel, who has kept in both four-day games there.
What happens next
The BCCI medical team is expected to run the second assessment within two days. A pass sends Pant to Lincoln for the game from 7 November; another fail would leave him short of match practice before the first Test on 19 November. The ODI series between the two sides, meanwhile, starts at Eden Park on 4 November, where New Zealand are already without Chapman and Ravindra.
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Pradeep Singh
Pradeep Singh is a cricket betting expert with 17+ years of experience. His work is in The Times of India, Hindustan Dainik, and Dainik Bhaskar, covering cricket betting and gambling news.
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