Champions Trophy: Pant suffers blow to knee in training as India jolted by injury scare
Sports, Cricket: The gloveman was standing close to a net where all-rounder Hardik Pandya was batting; after a cracker from Pandya, the ball hit Pant’s knee, injuring him.
Ace Indian keeper-batter Rishabh Pant suffered a knee injury during a training drill on Sunday (Feb 16) at the ICA Academy in Dubai, per the latest reports. The gloveman was standing close to a net where all-rounder Hardik Pandya was batting; after a cracker from Pandya, the ball hit Pant’s knee, injuring him.
The Times of India (TOI) reported that Pant fell immediately, looking in severe pain, with the physio and Pandya running towards him. The team physio applied an ice pack right away before Pant got back to his feet but kept on limping, worrying the Indian camp days ahead of theICC Champions Trophy start.
Pandya and Pant shared hugs and light moments after that incident before the team doctor strapped his knee, the one that got broken during a horrific car accident in December 2022. Soon after, Pant returned to the dressing room.
Although he returned to the nets after a while, the attacking left-hander looked uncomfortable covering the distance between the dressing room and the training area.
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Meanwhile, upon arrival in Dubai (India’s venue for their Champions Trophy games) on Saturday, the Men in Blue held their first training session.
India will play their first game of the tournament against Bangladesh on February 20 before taking on the host and arch-rivals Pakistan in the marquee clash three days later.
India’s last league game is against New Zealand, on March 2.
KL leads race
After Pant got injured and ruled out from on-field cricket for an indefinite period, KL Rahul took over as the wicketkeeper, doing justice to his new role. He kept wickets during the 2023 Asia Cup and the ODI World Cup, impressing everyone.
Fast forward 14 months, he remains India’s number-one choice behind the stumps. Head coach Gautam Gambhir even commented on the same following India’s series win over England at home.
"KL is our No 1 wicketkeeper, and this is what I can say at the moment. Rishabh Pant will get his chance, but at the moment, it is KL who has done well, and we cannot play two wicketkeeper-batters," Gambhir said.
India’s Champions Trophy squad –
Rohit Sharma (captain), Shubman Gill, Virat Kohli, Shreyas Iyer, KL Rahul, Rishabh Pant, Hardik Pandya, Axar Patel, Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Harshit Rana, Mohammed Shami, Arshdeep Singh, Ravindra Jadeja and Varun Chakaravarthy
(With inputs from agencies)
