Just less than a week to go before India’s campaign opener against Bangladesh in the ICC Champions Trophy 2025, Rohit Sharma’s men suffered an injury scare after Rishabh Pant was hit on his left knee during the team’s training session in Dubai on Sunday. After landing in Dubai on Saturday, the Indian team wasted no time in getting the preparations ready for the big event.
According to a TOI report, Rishabh Pant was standing in front of the net where Hardik Pandya was batting. However, it was a shot from all-rounder that hit Rishabh Pant on his left knee.
The southpaw immediately went down in the ground in pain before the physio came running and applied ice pack. For the unknown, it was the same knee that Rishabh Pant got hit during the car crash in 2022.
The 27-year-old got back to his feet and was caught limping before Hardik Pandya went straight to the wicketkeeper batter to ensure his teammate was all right. Rishabh Pant got his knee heavily strapped and made his way to the changing room.
The Indian team landed in Dubai on Saturday for the Champions Trophy and started training in the next day itself. India will play all their games in Dubai as the BCCI refused to sent the team to Pakistan due to security reasons.
Rishabh Pant unlikely to play in Champions Trophy
However, Rishabh Pant is unlikely to play in Champions Trophy as India will go with KL Rahul as their no.1 choice wicketkeeper. In fact, despite being in the ODI squad for the England series, Rishabh Pant was the only Indians cricketer to not get a game against Jos Buttler’s side.
“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,” India head coach Gautam Gambhir had told media.
KL Rahul has been India’s best batter at no.5 in ODIs for quite some time now. In fact, the right-hander also was one of India’s highest run-getters in the 2023 ODI World Cup.
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