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Team India skipper Rohit Sharma has underlined the need to be cautious with Rishabh Pant's knee as the keeper-batter injured it in the opening Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru. Rohit stated that Pant had a massive operation on his leg following an accident in December 2022 and that they must be extra careful.
The 26-year-old had injured his knee during New Zealand's first innings in Bengaluru and walked off, prompting Dhruv Jurel to step up and take the keeping gloves. However, he did return to bat in India's second dig and scored 99 but did not keep in the fourth innings.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Rohit revealed that Pant wasn't comfortably running between the wickets while batting and chose to hit boundaries instead. The veteran also reasoned behind not letting the youngster keep in the fourth innings, claiming they wanted to rest him ahead of the second Test. He said, as quoted by Cricbuzz:
"Yeah, look, about his [Rishabh Pant] injury, I think he had a massive operation on his leg. So, we all know what he went through. So, 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 is the right thing to do for him to stay inside and then get 100% ready for the next one."
The left-hander is a vital cog in India's middle-order and is a bona fide match-winner. Despite playing his first Test in over a year, Pant scored a ton during the Chennai Test against Bangladesh recently.
"He decides what he wants to do" - Rohit Sharma on Rishabh Pant's aggressive approach
Speaking of Pant's high-risk batting approach, Rohit also disclosed that the management try their best to make the southpaw aware of the game situation. However, the 37-year-old said they equally back the gameplay due to the dividends it has produced. He said:
"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 also we want to give it to him. Because he has produced performances with that mindset. So, I don't think there is anything that you need to speak to him.
"We spoke to him about, please understand the situation and stuff like that. But that's Rishabh. He wants to play in a certain way. And then as a captain, as a coach, we want to back that."
With New Zealand going 1-0 up in the series, Rohit and co. will look to bounce back in the second Test, beginning on October 24.
