Rishabh Pant Health Update: As things stand, India Cricket Team has been dealt a major blow six months before ICC World Cup 2023. India’s best wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant will take another 6-7 months to be back on the field. Thus, it will take a miracle for Rishabh to start playing competitive cricket by October. But with the serious nature of the injury, his future as a keeper is also uncertain. Thus, Team India has turned to KL Rahul and Ishan Kishan as the two wicket-keeping options in ODI for the World Cup. Follow IPL 2023 LIVE Updates on InsideSport.IN.
“Rishabh is recovering really well. But it is going to take another 6-7 months at least to be walking and stretching again. World Cup is a bit of a stretch for him at the moment. We just want him to recover completely before focusing on cricket again. It will take a lot of time for him to be back in competitive cricket. Rahul and Ishan are the two keepers we are looking at for now,” a senior BCCI official told InsideSport.
Rishabh Pant suffered a horrific car crash in December and after a month of hospitalisation, he returned home. He had surgery to repair his three torn ligaments on the knee. He is currently in recovery and recently visited National Cricket Academy for an injury assessment. He is currently on crutches and will take him some more time to be walking on his feet again.
“I am recovering very well and I’m getting better with each passing day. I came to visit the National Cricket Academy,” Pant told Delhi Capitals Media ahead of their game against RCB last week.
𝙈𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡 𝙞𝙨 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙬𝙞𝙩𝙝 𝘿𝙚𝙡𝙝𝙞 ❤#RP17 is our reason to smile this Friday evening 🤗#YehHaiNayiDilli #IPL2023 @RishabhPant17 pic.twitter.com/0RflJVgqFv
— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) April 14, 2023
However, the biggest worry would be his future as a keeper. With three reconstructed ligaments, it is still unsure whether he will be able to keep wickets. The reason is keeping provides a lot of stress on the knee. Rishabh will have to be in a squatting position for a long time. Hence, it is going to take longer to return as a keeper-batter.
With that in mind, BCCI has already begun preparation for T20 World Cup 2024. Sanju Samson has been inducted into BCCI Central Contracts apart from Ishan Kishan. KS Bharat continues to be backed while KL Rahul is slowly flourishing in a new wicketkeeper-batter role.
“We certainly hope that Rishabh will return to competitive cricket by the end of the year. But considering his injury, it is certainly doubtful. In fact, it is difficult to even give a timeline as we don’t know yet how is his knee going to do when he begins full-fledged training. So, we have to take a wait-and-see approach. Sanju, Ishan, KL and Bharat are four wicketkeepers we have currently. But Jitesh (Sharma) and others are being monitored closely,” the BCCI official said.
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