Mumbai: India’s star wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant is set to miss India’s upcoming white-ball tour of Australia, TOI has learnt. The tour, which includes three ODIs followed by five T20Is, will begin with the first ODI at Perth on Oct 19. On July 23, on Day One of the fourth Test against England at Old Trafford in Manchester, Pant fractured his foot while trying to reverse sweep a Chris Woakes yorker. He had retired hurt while batting on 37. The injury forced the 28-year-old to miss the fifth Test against England, the T20 Asia Cup in UAE, and India’s ongoing two-Test series against the West Indies at home.
Pant had last month consulted medical specialists in Mumbai. “His rehabilitation is progressing very slowly,” a source in the BCCI told this paper on Saturday. A likely time for Pant’s international comeback could be the first Test against South Africa at Eden Gardens in Kolkata from Nov 14. “Pant’s absence in the middle-order will be felt during the eight-match white-ball tour of Australia. “India surely missed an impactful batter like him in the middle-order in the T20 Asia Cup, even though Sanju Samson did a decent job,” a source tracking developments said. Overcoming his pain, Pant had gallantly walked out to bat the next day in the Old Trafford Test after suffering the injury, with his foot strapped. He went on to score 54, but the 28-year-old may have slightly aggravated his injury in the process, thus delaying his recovery. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is expected to announce the squad for the Australia tour on Saturday (October 4). It has been reported that modern-day greats Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who have not appeared in Indian colours since the Champions Trophy in February-March, are set to be included in the touring party.
