Rishabh Pant near regaining full fitness after aggravating foot injury ahead of Ranji Trophy return - Reports

Rishabh Pant has missed the West Indies at home and Australia white-ball tour due to his foot injury.

Indian wicket-keeper batter Rishabh Pant reportedly aggravated his foot injury by opting to bat again after fracturing his foot in the Manchester test during India’s tour of England earlier this year. Pant had suffered injury to his foot after being struck by a Chris Woakes yorker during the game.

Pant was immediately seen in pain, and despite India physio’s attempt to alleviate the pain, the keeper-batter was taken off the field on a medical buggy, with blood oozing out of the wound. However, Pant’s resolve to return to bat and contribute important runs to the team’s total hampered his rehabilitation.

As per Cricbuzz, Pant sustained a fifth metatarsal fracture, which typically takes six weeks to recover, with players returning to action within two weeks of the fracture healing.

Pant was supposed to be available for the ongoing home test series against the West Indies, but he was unable to recover in time for the subsequent away white-ball tour of Australia. Pant’s decision to resume his batting seemingly aggravated his injury, increasing his return time.

“He may be paying the price for this, but he will return soon,” said a source close to him, speaking to Cricbuzz.

Rishabh Pant is set to make his cricketing return in the Ranji Trophy for Delhi

After missing out on the West Indies tests and Australia tour, Rishabh Pant will eye the home series against South Africa for his India return. Before that, Pant will take a fitness test at the Board of Control for Cricket in India’s (BCCI) Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru on Friday (October 10). There is growing hope that the 28-year-old wicket-keeper batter will pass his assessment and return to action shortly.

He is anticipated to be available for the Delhi team for the upcoming Ranji Trophy season. The Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) is scheduled to release its Ranji squad soon, with Pant likely to be conditionally selected for the domestic match against Hyderabad, which begins October 15.

“The selection will be subject to fitness. He is expected to clear the test and play in the Hyderabad game. In the worst-case scenario, he will certainly be available for the second match against Himachal Pradesh, from October 25,” a DDCA source said.

Pant is believed to have discussed playing domestic fixtures with the DDCA officials.

Dhruv Jurel has been keeping wickets for India in tests during his absence and recently scored a century in the Ahmedabad test. However, Pant is set to restore his place in the Indian team for the November-December home series against South Africa.

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