Rishabh Pant, Shubman Gill all set to miss Pune Test vs NZ? Report reveals

India National Cricket Team have faced a major blow ahead of the second Test against the New Zealand National Cricket Team. As per the reports in RevSportz, it is learned that the keeper-batter Rishabh Pant is doubtful for the second game of the series against the Kiwis.

The second Test between India National Cricket Team and New Zealand National Cricket Team is all set to take place on 24th October in Pune. It will be a virtual series decider after the hosts faced a disappointing loss at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Rishabh Pant faced a knee injury in the first Test

Not only did they face the loss, but they also faced an injury scare as well and Rishabh Pant coped with a blow to the knee. While keeping on Day 3 of the match, the ball hit him on the knee, and he looked in immense pain. As a result of that, he was also taken out of the field as he couldn't continue keeping.

Rishabh Pant came out to bat on Day 4 but struggled with his running. The keeper-batter even was seen limping, and then after that, he didn't come to keep wickets in the fourth innings and also didn't participate in the morning warm-ups on Day 5, which raised a lot of eyebrows.

Pant played a vital role with the bat for the team in the second Test against the New Zealand National Cricket Team. The keeper-batter played a stellar inning 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 massive 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 slammed 9 fours and 5 sixes in his innings. This was the 7th time in his career that he got dismissed in the 90s in the longest format of the game.

Rishabh Pant's absence will leave a massive void in the Indian Team going into the Test series against New Zealand. If he isn't deemed fit to play the game, doors will be opened for Dhruv Jurel, who displayed magnificent keeping skills in the absence of the left-hander in the first Test.

Shubman Gill attains full fitness, set to return to the team for the second Test

The reports also claimed that Shubman Gill has attained full fitness and is all set to return to the team for the second Test. The young batter experienced a stiff neck ahead of the first Test and, hence, wasn't deemed fit to play. But now he is all set to return to Pune.

Gill was seen undergoing a net session at the end of the match today. He faced Prasidh Krishna, Harshit Rana, and Akash Deep, along with a left-arm unorthodox spinner and a couple of throwdown specialists, and looked in no discomfort as he batted around for more than an hour.

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