Recovering from the injury sustained during the England tour is taking longer than expected for this wicketkeeper-batter.
Rishabh Pant is yet to fully recover from the severe foot injury he picked up on the England tour. This has raised doubts over the wicketkeeper-batter’s participation in the two-match Test series at home against West Indies.
Pant had a sensational time with the bat during last June-July’s England tour. In the first Test at Leeds, he scored centuries in both innings. In the next three Tests, he hit a fifty in each match, becoming the first visiting wicketkeeper-batter to reach 1,000 Test runs on English soil.
However, during that brilliant run, the 27-year-old suffered a serious injury in the first innings of the fourth Test. Attempting a reverse sweep off Chris Woakes, he mistimed it, and the yorker struck his boot.
A scan revealed a fracture. Yet the very next day, with the team in desperate need, he hobbled to the crease and batted, resuming from 37 and going on to complete his fifty. India saved that match and then won the following Test to draw the five-match series.
Pant naturally missed the final Test. At the time, it was announced he would need six to eight weeks to recover, sparking hopes of his availability for the West Indies series. But according to media reports, he has not recovered within the expected timeframe.
The first Test is set to begin on October 2 in Ahmedabad. ESPNcricinfo has learned that before then, on Wednesday, India’s selection committee will meet. Led by Ajit Agarkar, the panel will pick a 15-member squad — two fewer than the squad chosen for the last home Test series against New Zealand.
India endured a disastrous series against the Kiwis, suffering a whitewash in the three-match contest.
