During the last session of the second day’s play, Pant was injured on the right knee while trying to stump Devon Conway in the 37th over of New Zealand’s first innings. He left the field limping after being hit by a sharp turning delivery from Ravindra Jadeja. In his absence, substitute keeper Dhruv Jurel is taking care of the wicketkeeping responsibilities for India.
Pant had undergone surgery on his right knee after a near-fatal car accident in December 2022. The BCCI update released on Friday stated, “Rishabh Pant will not keep wickets on the third day of the first Test between India and New Zealand. The BCCI medical team is monitoring his progress.”
India was bowled out for 46 runs in their first innings, which is their lowest Test score at home and third-lowest in the longer format, with Pant top-scoring with 20 runs. After the second day’s play, captain Rohit Sharma confirmed that Pant had swelling on his right knee due to Jadeja’s ball. Rohit Sharma said, “Unfortunately, the ball hit his kneecap directly, which is the same knee that underwent surgery. So, there is some swelling in his knee.”
Rohit added, “The muscles are still very delicate, so it’s a precautionary measure. We don’t want to take any risks. Rishabh doesn’t want to take any risks because of the surgery on that knee. That’s why he had to leave the field.”