He was last seen batting phenomenally during England Test series.
Rishabh Pant had been the talk of the town since India drew the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England. The wicketkeeper-batter was taken off the field in an ambulance after fracturing his right foot during the Manchester Test. Despite excruciating pain, Pant came out to bat with his broken foot. Earlier at Lord’s in the third Test, he had injured his finger too. However, the 28-year-old will reportedly feature in the upcoming Ranji Trophy 2025-26 season.
As per a BCCI source’s communication with The Times of India, Rishabh Pant is expected to clear all assessments by October 10. Delhi will begin their Ranji Trophy season against Hyderabad on October 15. While the gloveman is nearing full fitness, just a week would be too close to return to action.
“Pant has said he should be available for the Ranji Trophy matches in Delhi from Oct 25. He has conveyed that it will be subject to fitness and clearance obtained from the BCCI medical team. Pant has not committed to any date when he can join the Delhi camp. If he is available, he is most likely to lead the team” a top DDCA official told TOI.
Thus, Pant could be taking the field for the Himachal Pradesh clash on October 25 or for the Puducherry game starting on November 1. How long he can play the Ranji season will depend on his selection for the South Africa Test series at home, starting from November 14.
As per the updates before the Asia Cup 2025, Rishabh Pant was in Mumbai to assess the timeline and finer details of his recovery. The wicketkeeper-batter then returned to the National Cricket Academy’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru to continue his rehab. However, his foot remained strapped, indicating that he was still away from full fitness. His return for the ongoing West Indies Test series at home in October also seemed unlikely.
Pant was in tremendous batting form in England, scoring two centuries in two innings in Leeds, followed by half-centuries. However, injuries ruled him out of the last Test at The Oval. Despite playing one match less, Pant was India’s fourth-highest run-getter in the series, with 479 runs coming at a striking rate of 77.63.
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It had only been a year since Pant’s comeback in the Indian team after he survived a near-fatal freak car accident. He missed the entirety of IPL 2023 and was seen using crutches to walk.
The past few months haven’t been kind to the youngster, but he has been fighting his existential thoughts with a positive approach. Rishabh Pant had been quite vocal about his troubles throughout his recovery and often shared updates on his social media handle, while he hopes for a sooner comeback to cricket.
One of Pant’s posts read, “Just wanna tell you one thing which I understand is it doesn’t matter how much pain you endured in the past, if you get hurt again it pains the same for sure, just the threshold goes up and you know the process to keep pushing yourself. So being positive is massive, motivating yourself works a lot. Keep trusting yourself and keep working in the direction you wanna take your life because what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger eventually (sic).”
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