IND vs AUS: 3 Indian Players Who Can Replace Rishabh Pant In Indian Test Squad

Updated - 31 Dec 2022, 02:54 PM

Rishabh Pant (PC-Getty Images)
Rishabh Pant (PC-Getty Images)

IND vs AUS: 3 Indian Players Who Can Replace Rishabh Pant In Indian Test Squad. Indian cricket team’s wicketkeeper and batsman Rishabh Pant met with an accident after his car hit the divider near Mangalore police station in Roorkee on Friday morning.

Indian Cricketer Rishabh Pant
Rishabh Pant. Pic Credits: Twitter

Rishabh Pant suffered injuries in his leg and head and is being moved to a private hospital in Dehradun for treatment. Rishabh Pant’s Mercedes Benz car hit the divider and caught fire. The accident took place around 5:30 am.

IPL 2023 | Sri Lanka tour of India 2023 | Dream11 Prediction | Fantasy Cricket Tips | Cricket Match Prediction Today | Cricket News | Cricket Live Score | New Zealand tour of India 2023 | Australia tour of India 2023

Star Indian cricketer wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant met with a serious road accident on Friday morning (December 30) when he was returning to Delhi from Uttarakhand. According to the latest update, his car met with an accident on the Narsan border of Roorkee near Hammadpur Jhal on Friday morning.

Cricketer Rishabh Pant receives treatment at a hospital after his car collided with a road divider(PTI)
Cricketer Rishabh Pant receives treatment at a hospital after his car collided with a road divider(PTI)

His car hit a divider, and it caught fire after the collision. As per reports and several pictures that have surfaced online, he has suffered multiple burn injuries, but his condition is stable, and the 25-year-old cricketer is out of danger.

IPL 2023 | IND vs SL 2023 | India vs Sri Lanka 2023 | India National Cricket Team | IND vs NZ 2023 | India vs New Zealand 2023 | IND vs AUS 2023 | India vs Australia 2023

However, Rishabh Pant may not be fit in time for the forthcoming 4 match Test series against Australia, and the likes of inexperienced KS Bharat, veterans Wriddhiman Saha and Dinesh Karthik, or limited overs specialists Ishan Kishan and Sanju Samson can get a chance. KL Rahul can also keep wickets.

IND vs AUS: 3 Indian Players Who Can Replace Rishabh Pant In Indian Test Squad

KS Bharat

KS Bharat
KS Bharat. Image-BCCI

KS Bharat played in the IPL for the first time in IPL 2021 for the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and scored 191 runs in 8 games at an average of 38.20 and a strike rate of 122.43.

He was then released by RCB and was picked by Delhi Capitals (DC) for INR 2 crore, at 10 times his base price, at the IPL 2022 mega auction in Bengaluru. However, KS Bharat played just 2 games in IPL 2022 and scored 8 runs.

Meanwhile, KS Bharat entered the IPL 2023 mini-auction with a base price of INR 20 lakh. The 29-year-old wicketkeeper-batter KS Bharat was bought by the Gujarat Titans (GT) for INR 1.20 crore at the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 mini-auction.

KS Bharat has amassed 4533 runs in 84 first-class games averaging 37.46 playing for Andhra with 9 tons and 25 fifties. KS Bharat replaced Wridhiman Saha behind the stumps after the latter complained of stiffness in his neck ahead of the start of play on Day 3 of the Kanpur Test between India and New Zealand on November 2021 and he took 3 catches behind the stumps.

Wriddhiman Saha

Wriddhiman Saha (Image Credits: Twitter)
Wriddhiman Saha (Image Credits: Twitter)

In February, Wriddhiman Saha was dropped from India’s Test squad for the Sri Lanka series at home. The 37-year-old, who played a stellar role in Gujarat Titans’ IPL 2022 triumph in their debut season this year, had pulled out of the Bengal set-up after being rejected in the Indian Test team for Sri Lanka. After missing the first five league matches, he scored 317 runs for GT in 11 matches that included three half-centuries.

Having made his debut for Bengal in 2007, Wriddhiman Saha has played over 100 first-class matches for Bengal and Tripura. Veteran Indian wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha scored his first century in Ranji Trophy while playing for Tripura and his 14th FC ton.

Coming to Tripura this season, Wriddhiman Saha is playing his 125th first-class match and has so far scored over 6,500 runs in the format. He has also scored 39 half-centuries in this format so far and his highest score has been 203*. He has played 40 Tests since debuting against Proteas in 2010 and has amassed 1353 runs averaging 29.41 besides taking 29 catches and affecting 12 stumpings. His last Test was against New Zealand in December 2021 but he may be recalled in place of unfit Rishabh Pant for the 4 Tests against Australia.

Dinesh Karthik

Dinesh Karthik (Image Credits: Twitter)
Dinesh Karthik (Image Credits: Twitter)

Dinesh Karthik, the veteran’s international career had looked as good as over when he was dropped from the team across formats in 2019. Dinesh Karthik faced the axe following his terrible display in the 2019 World Cup semifinal against New Zealand.

However, his performance in IPL 2022 has completely changed his fortunes. In 16 IPL 2022 games for Royal Challengers Bangalore-RCB, he smashed 330 runs at an astonishing average of 55 and a brilliant strike rate of more than 183. Dinesh Karthik also played in the T20 World Cup 2022 where he scored only 14 runs in 4 games. The 37-year-old Dinesh Karthik who made his T20I debut in 2006, didn’t make many contributions on his recall to the international arena.

Veteran Indian keeper-batter Dinesh Karthik made his Test debut in November 2004 against Australia at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. He had an impressive year in Test matches in 2007. He did not feature in any Test matches for India for over eight years since January 2010.

However, he made a surprise comeback in June 2018 and played in the one-off Test against Afghanistan in Bengaluru. He played two more Tests during the disastrous tour of England in 2018 and hasn’t donned the whites for India since then. But it remains to be seen if he makes a comeback in place of Rishabh Pant for the 4-match Test series against Australia.

Virat Kohli | Rohit Sharma | Rishabh Pant | KL Rahul | Suryakumar Yadav | Sanju Samson | Shreyas Iyer | Yuzvendra Chahal | Jasprit Bumrah

Tagged:

Gujarat Titans (GT) ICC 2019 World Cup IND vs AUS 2023 India National Cricket Team India vs Australia 2023 IPL 2021 IPL 2022 IPL 2023 Ishan Kishan KL Rahul KS Bharat Rishabh Pant Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) Sanju Samson Tripura Wriddhiman Saha