Wanted to be extra careful, not just careful with Pant: Rohit Sharma

Indian captain Rohit Sharma said the team management wanted to be “extra careful” with Rishabh Pant after he received a blow to the side of his knee during the opening Test against New Zealand in Bengaluru.

The wicketkeeper-batter was injured in the 37th over of New Zealand’s innings on Day 2. He missed a turning delivery from Ravindra Jadeja that hit him on the side of his knee, an unprotected area. Given substitute fielders can keep wickets now, Dhruv Jurel replaced Pant for the final hour of play on day two and continued to keep wickets on Day 3 as well. 

Pant needed immediate medical attention once he was hit. The physio walked out for treatment but couldn’t do much as the wicketkeeper continued to wince in pain. He eventually had to be taken off. Pant hobbled off the field and looked in trouble while trying to land his right knee. It is worth noting that he injured his knees quite badly during his horrific accident in December 2022. 

The left-hander, however, did bat in the second innings and smashed 99 off 105 deliveries. "He's had a massive operation on his leg, so we all know what he went through. "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,” said Rohit after India lost the first of three Tests by eight wickets.

"He's had a lot of minor surgeries [and] 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 [just] careful with him. When you're 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."

Talking about Pant’s innings, in which he slammed nine fours and five maximums and operated at a strike rate of almost 95, Rohit said, "No one knows what goes in his mind, to be honest. He decides what he wants to do. I don't think there's anything that you need to speak to him about. 

“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 because, like he has produced results for us having that mindset. So let him go and play freely."

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