Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir confirmed Rishabh Pant’s participation as a wicketkeeper-batter in the upcoming second Test against New Zealand as well. However, Pant had suffered a blow to his knee while keeping wickets and only played as a batter in the latter half of the series opener at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium as well after he was struck on the same knee that he had surgery. But he also scored 99, before getting out in the second innings.
“He is absolutely fine, he’ll keep wickets tomorrow,” Gautam Gambhir said of Pant during the pre-match press conference in Pune.
Returning to the red-ball cricket after a prolonged absence, Rishabh Pant began from where he left off. He smashed a ton in his return Test against Bangladesh, and with a promising fifty against New Zealand, he is in good touch before the all-important Border-Gavaskar series.
“Once this series is over, we have 10-12 days and that’s good enough rest. Of course we will evaluate after this game. Keeping the pacers fresh is important,” Gambhir again added in the press conference.
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However, Gautam Gambhir has also backed KL Rahul to come good amid talks on his recent form in Test cricket. After making a duck in India’s 46 all out in the first innings of the Bengaluru Test, Rahul got out for 12 in the second as India lost to New Zealand by eight wickets as well.
“You don’t pick players on social media because of social media or for that matter even what the experts are saying,” Gambhir said. “What the team management thinks and what the leadership group thinks is very, very important. Ultimately, everyone is judged.”
“International cricket is all about being judged, to be honest, because everyone’s performance will be judged eventually. But I feel that he [Rahul] is batting really well. Obviously, he has had a decent knock in Kanpur [against Bangladesh] obviously, on a difficult wicket. And obviously, he played according to the plans as well. And I am sure, I think, he would also be knowing that he wants to score big runs and he has that capability of scoring runs. That’s why he has been backed by the team management,” he concluded.
