Rohit Sharma Provides Big Update About Rishabh Pant's Fitness After He Skipped Wicketkeeping In 2nd Innings

Rishabh Pant didn’t come out to field for India in the second innings of the first Test against New Zealand, which raised doubts over his fitness. But while speaking to reporters on Sunday (October 20) during the post-match press conference after India lost the Test series opener by eight wickets, Indian skipper Rohit Sharma brushed aside doubts related to the star stumper’s fitness and said he didn’t keep wickets for India in the second innings as a precautionary measure.

According to Rohit, Pant had a massive operation on his knee, and team management decided to be careful with him after he struggled to run comfortably during his 99-run knock in the second inning.

“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. But, again, with someone like him, we just need to be extra careful because he has had a lot of minor surgeries, 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. So, it’s just about being extra careful, not careful with him. So, when you are keeping, you have to bend every ball with your knee going down. And the wicket being what it was, we thought it was the right thing to do for him to stay inside and then get 100% ready for the next one,” Rohit told reporters.

Speaking about Pant’s batting, Rohit said no one knows what goes in his mind when he is at the crease. He plays his own game, and the team management wants to give him that freedom because he has produced results with his approach.

‘Like I said about his innings, no one knows what goes in his mind, to be honest. He decides what he wants to do. And that is the kind of freedom we also want to give to him. Because he has produced performances with that mindset. So, I don’t think there is anything that you need to say to him. We spoke to him about, Please understand the situation and stuff like that. But, you know, that’s Rishabh. He wants to play in a certain way. And then, you know, as a captain, as a coach, we want to back that. Because, like I said, he has produced results for us, you know, having that mindset. So, let him go and play freely.”