IND vs NZ, 1st Test: We have to be extra careful, not just careful with him - Rohit Sharma on Rishabh Pant

Indian captain Rohit Sharma is cautious about the extent of injury to Rishabh Pant after the wicketkeeper-batter did not keep gloves for the hosts in the second innings of the Bengaluru Test match. The contest, which ended in favour of New Zealand on Sunday (Oct 20), saw the Kiwis win by eight wickets despite India’s mini-comeback in the second innings. After the defeat, Rohit claimed the team management is “extra careful” when it comes to Pant, who suffered a serious knee injury in a near-fatal car accident in December 2022.

Rohit to be ‘extra careful’ on Pant

"He's had a massive operation on his leg, so we all know what he went through," Rohit said after India went down by eight wickets to New Zealand in Bengaluru on Sunday. "It's just to be a little careful about where he is at and what he is to us. Even when he was batting, he was not comfortably running. He was trying to only put the ball in the stands."

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"He's had a lot of minor surgeries [and] one big surgery on his knee and he went through a lot of trauma, to be honest, in the last one-and-a-half years," Rohit said. "So it's just about being extra careful, not [just] careful with him.”

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India lose Bengaluru Test

While Pant’s right knee injury on Day 3 was the big talking point, he did return to bat for India on Day 4 as the hosts revived their hopes of drawing and, if not winning, the Test match. Before getting out, Pant scored 99 and gave a good helping hand to Sarfaraz Khan, who scored 150. The innings combined with Rohit’s 52 and Virat’s 71 helped India reach 462 as they overcame a massive deficit of 356 runs from the first innings.

However, the second innings heroics did not prove worthy for India having been bowled out for 46 in the first innings as they lost by eight wickets. The eyes will now be on the second Test match, which starts on Thursday (Oct 24).