With only a few days left for the Indian cricket team to fly to New Zealand for an all-format tour, the Asian side has been handed a huge blow and worry as Rishabh Pant has suffered an injury and will be missing a couple of red-ball matches on the tour.
Pant, who turned 29 earlier this month, is slated to be the first-choice wicket-keeper in the India Test squad for the two-match Test series in New Zealand. However, his participation has now come under a massive cloud.
The India tour of New Zealand comprises five T20Is, five ODIs, and two Test matches, running from October 22 to December 1.
IND vs NZ: Is Rishabh Pant injured for the New Zealand tour?
Pant sustained a side strain while playing a sweep during the Irani Cup, where he captained the Rest of India team. The left-hander batted in both innings against J&K with injury but managed meagre scores of 10 & 8.
Pant has been ruled out of two India A vs New Zealand A red-ball matches. Ahead of the India vs New Zealand Test series, India A will play three four-day red-ball games against New Zealand A from October 24.
Part of the India A squad, the left-handed Pant will miss the first two of the three four-day fixtures against New Zealand A in Lincoln and Christchurch.
The BCCI has roped in Jharkhand’s 21-year-old wicket-keeper Kumar Kushagra as Pant’s replacement in the squad, while Dhruv Jurel, who is the captain of India A, will don the gloves in Pant’s absence.
It has been learned that Pant has been placed under the supervision of the BCCI medical team, and his fitness will be monitored. A call on his availability or non-availability for the third India A vs New Zealand A multi-day match will be taken closer to the match.
Earlier, the Delhi and Districts Cricket Association (DDCA) had announced that Pant was unavailable for Delhi’s opening match in the Ranji Trophy, which began on October 11.
Pant has been a first-choice player in the Test team, whenever fit and available, since the 2020 BGT in Australia. Most recently, he notched up two entertaining half-centuries in the two-match Test series in Sri Lanka in August, and before that, in June, whacked 81 against Afghanistan in the Mullanpur Test match.
Meanwhile, young Kushagra appeared in red-ball matches for India A against Australia A and hit a century in the first of the three-match series.
Updated India A squad for the first two unofficial four-day red-ball matches vs New Zealand A:
Dhruv Jurel (C, wk), Washington Sundar, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Yashasvi Jaiswal, R. Smaran, Anshul Kamboj, Auqib Nabi, Akash Deep, Manav Suthar, Sai Sudharsan, Yash Rathod, Mukesh Kumar, Mukesh Choudhary, Kumar Kushagra (wk)
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