New Delhi: Rishabh Pant’s race to be fit for the Test series against New Zealand has suffered a fresh setback, with reports on Monday saying the wicketkeeper-batter failed a fitness assessment at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru on Sunday.
According to ESPNcricinfo, the BCCI medical team will conduct a second assessment within the next two days before deciding whether Pant can travel to New Zealand. That reassessment is now the decisive moment in his comeback: it will determine whether he can join India A for the third and final unofficial Test against New Zealand A in Lincoln from November 7, and, more importantly, whether he can be cleared for the first Test against New Zealand at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, which begins on November 19.
Pant had already been ruled out of the Lincoln match as a precautionary measure, having missed the first two unofficial Tests against New Zealand A because of the same injury. He was named in India’s 16-member Test squad subject to a fitness clearance from the BCCI medical team, and that clearance is yet to come.
The 29-year-old picked up a left-side strain while captaining Rest of India against Jammu and Kashmir in the Irani Cup final in Srinagar in early October, and he has not played any competitive cricket since. He reported to the Bengaluru facility on October 23 and has since resumed batting and wicketkeeping drills as part of his rehabilitation. Kumar Kushagra was named as his replacement in the A squad.
Earlier reports on October 26 had suggested Pant was on track to return for the third match in Lincoln, but the failed assessment on November 1 has changed that picture. The team management does not want to rush his comeback, with the two-match Test series — part of the World Test Championship cycle — the bigger prize.
Pant has resumed skill training at the Centre of Excellence and is currently pain-free, with no clinical symptoms visible. However, no definite timeline has been set for his return to competitive cricket. Reports say he must complete three skill-training sessions along with four match-simulation sessions before a formal fitness evaluation, after which the medical team will decide on clearance.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir, asked about Pant’s fitness on Sunday, gave no clear update. “I don’t have an update yet on Rishabh Pant, will share when I get it,” Gambhir said, leaving the Wellington question open with just over two weeks to go before the first Test.
Pant’s absence robs him of crucial time in the middle ahead of the series. He is now effectively a one-format player for India, having lost his place in the white-ball sides, and the Tests in Wellington and Christchurch are central to his red-ball future. If he is not cleared for Wellington, Dhruv Jurel — who is captaining India A in New Zealand and scored a century in the ongoing second unofficial Test in Christchurch — is the natural stand-in behind the stumps.
For now, the picture is one of cautious optimism rather than certainty: pain-free at training, but with no competitive cricket since early October, a failed fitness test behind him and a second assessment still to come, Pant’s Wellington Test remains genuinely in doubt.
Read our India A day-two report here: https://t20star.com/jurels-105-and-boyles-unbeaten-century-leave-india-a-vs-new-zealand-a-evenly-poised-on-day-2-in-christchurch/
