In what comes as a big blow to his ODI comeback plans, Rishabh Pant has been ruled out of the upcoming ODI series against New Zealand, beginning on Sunday (January 11). According to sources, Pant suffered a freak injury during practice on Saturday in Vadodara and the initial reactions to the injury don't look encouraging.
The incident happened while Pant was having an extended batting session in the nets. The left-hander batted for close to an hour and shortly before his scheduled exit, Pant got struck near the waist and seemed to be in apparent discomfort immediately. He crouched and was on his knees, due to the aftereffect of the blow.
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As per the sources close to the team management, Pant has virtually been ruled out of the ODI series that has a very short turnaround time between the three matches. Since August 2024, Pant hasn't featured in an ODI for India with KL Rahul taking over as the primary wicket-keeper batter in the side.
As the Karnataka batter has also taken the lower middle order position at no.5/no.6, Pant's entry into an already congested Indian batting order has proven to be difficult. Meanwhile, vice-captain Shreyas Iyer is set to make his comeback after having recovered fully from the spleen injury suffered in Australia.
An official update over Pant's medical condition is expected over the next 24 hours and Ishan Kishan could possibly be named as the replacement.