Pant puts in guest appearance at India training session
ESPNcricinfo staff
16-Jan-2024 • 23 hrs ago
Rishabh Pant joins the Indian team in a nets session • PTI
Rishabh Pant made a brief appearance at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium during India’s training session on the eve of the third and final T20I against Afghanistan.
Sporting a black t-shirt and shorts, Pant appeared chirpy (from a distance, where we were perched), cracked jokes, fooled around with Virat Kohli, which included a lot of shirt tugging and loud laughter. He then went to chat with some the other players, like Rinku Singh and Shivam Dube, before chatting with Rohit Sharma for a bit.
Pant also shadow-practiced with a bat, but – crucially – still didn’t look like he was 100% comfortable walking. He seemed to hobble a bit.
Rishabh Pant joined the Indian team practice session for a bit in Bengaluru ahead of the third #INDvAFG T20I. He chatted with Virat Kohli and the others, also shadow-practicing a few shots before heading off. pic.twitter.com/0uFOtwjIW5
— Ashish Pant (@ashishpant43) January 16, 2024
Pant, 26, has been at the BCCI’s National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru, continuing his rehab from the car accident just over a year ago, in which he tore all three key ligaments in his right knee. Pant has since gone three successful reconstructive surgeries to the ligaments, and has posted videos of his training on social media from time to time.
He is expected to return to competitive cricket at IPL 2024 for Delhi Capitals. Whether or not he returns as a wicketkeeper-batter remains to be seen. Pant was at a Capitals camp held in Kolkata in November last year. More recently, he attended the IPL 2024 auction held in Dubai in December as part of the Capitals contingent.