The Indian national cricket team has faced a big blow ahead of the second test against the New Zealand national cricket team. As reported by RevSportz, it is known that wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant is a doubt for the second match of the series against the Kiwis.

The second Test between the Indian national cricket team and the New Zealand national cricket team is scheduled to take place on October 24 in Pune. It will be a decisive match of the virtual series after the hosts suffered a disappointing defeat at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Rishabh Pant faced knee injury in first Test

Not only did they face defeat but they also faced an injury scare and Rishabh Pant faced a knock on his knee. As day 3 of the match continued, the ball hit him on the knee and he seemed to be in immense pain. As a result of that, he was also removed from the field because he could not continue.

Rishabh Pant came out to bat on Day 4 but struggled to run. The wicketkeeper-batsman was even seen limping, and after that, he did not come to keep wickets in the fourth innings and also did not participate in the morning warm-ups on Day 5, which led to many surprises.

Pant played a vital role with the bat for the team in the second Test against the New Zealand national cricket team. The wicketkeeper-batsman played a stellar innings with the bat that kept his team in the hunt. He shared a 177-run partnership with Sarfaraz Khan (150) and helped the team take the lead in the second innings.

Rishabh Pant’s absence will leave a big void in the Indian team

He played an innings of 99 runs off 105 balls. He batted with a strike rate of around 95 and also hit 9 fours and 5 sixes in his innings. This was the seventh time in his career that he was dismissed in the 90s in the longest format of the game.

Rishabh Pant’s absence will leave a big void in the Indian team ahead of the Test series against New Zealand. If he is not deemed fit to play, the floodgates will open for Dhruv Jurel, who displayed superb defensive skills in the left-hander’s absence in the first Test.

Shubman Gill regains full fitness and is ready to return to the team for the second Test

Reports also claimed that Shubman Gill is in top form and is ready to return to the team for the second Test. The young batsman experienced neck stiffness before the first Test and was therefore deemed unfit to play. But now he is ready to return to Pune.

Gill was seen doing a net session at the end of today’s match. He faced Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana and Akash Deep, along with an unorthodox left-arm spinner and a couple of tackle specialists, and did not seem to feel any discomfort as he batted for over an hour.

Gill also underwent catching drills with fielding coach T Dilip after finishing his nets. His return will be a big boost for the team as he has been in sensational form in testing. He has scored three centuries in eight Tests played so far in 2024.