Rishabh Pant has been cleared fit to join India’s Test squad in New Zealand, ending weeks of uncertainty over his availability for the two-Test series. The wicketkeeper-batter received his fitness clearance from the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru on Thursday after completing two days of fitness and simulation tests on November 10 and 11, and he will fly to New Zealand in less than 24 hours. Cricbuzz first reported the clearance on Thursday afternoon, with the BCCI’s medical team satisfied he has regained full fitness.
Pant picked up a side strain while captaining Rest of India against Jammu and Kashmir in the Irani Cup in early October. He was named in India’s Test squad for the New Zealand tour subject to fitness, but he missed the entire India A programme against New Zealand A after failing to obtain the mandatory Return to Play certificate from the Centre of Excellence, and he was withdrawn from the squad. He has been undergoing rehabilitation at the facility since October 23, after failing his first fitness test on November 1, with his workload increased gradually.
“Pant is completely fit. He is undergoing the match simulation drills at the CoE today and there is one round (of simulation) scheduled for tomorrow (Wednesday),” a BCCI source told PTI earlier this week. “Upon successful completion of both rounds, Pant will then leave for Wellington on November 12.” Sources say Pant has looked comfortable in productive batting and wicketkeeping sessions at the Centre of Excellence, and the two simulation sessions were the final step before the medical assessment that has now cleared him.
His clearance is a major boost for India ahead of a series that is part of the ICC World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle. The first Test begins at the Basin Reserve in Wellington on November 19, with the second and final Test in Christchurch from November 27. Pant is expected to reach New Zealand well ahead of the opener, and his return settles the wicketkeeping question that has hung over the squad since his injury. Dhruv Jurel, who kept wicket and made 71 in the drawn third unofficial Test in Lincoln, had been the cover option if Pant was not cleared to keep.
Pant has extra motivation for the series. He needs 52 more runs to become the first Indian batter to complete 3,000 runs in World Test Championship history, and he is yet to score a half-century in Tests on New Zealand soil. He has not featured in international cricket since the second Test against Sri Lanka in Colombo, and the New Zealand tour now offers him a swift return to Test cricket.
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Rishabh Pant on Course for New Zealand Tests as Fitness Clearance Expected on November 12
