Rishabh Pant Suffers Concussion, KL Rahul Keeping Wickets In Mumbai

Team India’s first ODI of 2020 has not panned out as expected so far as they were all out for a modest 255 in the ongoing game against Australia at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. And when the Men in Blue came out to field, an unusual sight was witnessed as instead of Rishabh Pant, KL Rahul was seen with the wicketkeeping gloves.

At first it looked like, the team management was trying out KL Rahul as the wicketkeeper after Rishabh Pant’s constant failures. Last month, India head coach Ravi Shastri had said that playing Rahul as a wicketkeeper was an option and thus it looked like the team-management was experimenting with the move.

Also Read: KL Rahul As Wicketkeeper? Ravi Shastri Leaves The Door Ajar For Experiment

But to everyone’s surprise, Rishabh Pant was nowhere to be seen before the BCCI gave an update on him. The Indian cricket board released a statement, stating that Rishabh Pant has suffered a concussion and thus KL Rahul was keeping the wickets.

“Rishabh Pant has got a concussion after being hit on his helmet while batting. KL Rahul is keeping wickets in his absence. Pant is under observation at the moment,” wrote BCCI on Twitter.

Update: Rishabh Pant has got a concussion after being hit on his helmet while batting. KL Rahul is keeping wickets in his absence. Pant is under observation at the moment. #TeamIndia #INDvAUS pic.twitter.com/JkVElMacQc

— BCCI (@BCCI) January 14, 2020

Rishabh Pant suffered the injury while he was batting. The left-handed batsman was hit on the helmet when he top-edged a delivery from Pat Cummins to be caught for 28 earlier in the match. India, meanwhile, finished their innings on a modest 255 after a poor display from the middle-order. Asked to bat first, India were off to a poor start as Rohit Sharma departed cheaply.

However, Shikhar Dhawan (74) and KL Rahul (47) steadied the ship and set the platform for a big total by adding 121 runs. But once Dhawan and Rahul departed in a space of six runs, India kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were all out for a below par 255.