Rishabh Pant had to walk off retired hurt on Day 3 of India A’s four-day fixture against South Africa A after being hit on the left fore-arm. The wicketkeeper, who fractured his foot while playing a shot in the England tour, has been included in India’s upcoming two Test series against South Africa, starting in Kolkata on November 14. As part of the preparation, Pant has been turning out for India A in the series against South Africa A.
Pant, who walked into bat early in the day following the dismissal of KL Rahul, and started off on a typical note with his first three scoring shots being: 4, 4 and 6. The first one was heaved over mid-wicket, the second a casual flick and the third was his usual swirl that went soaring over the boundary fence.
But moments later a sharp bouncer from Tshepo Moreki hit him on the helmet when he tried to play a reverse-ramp. The impact had him off balance and was down on the floor as the physio conducted the mandatory concussion test.
Soon after, a short ball from Moreki hit Pant on his left fore-arm when the batsman tried to pull a delivery that was angling into his body. Since he was early into the shot, the ball hit him flush on the elbow and Pant seemed to be in a lot of pain with the physio coming out with the magic spray. That Pant took his gloves off immediately suggested he was in considerable pain, but after medical attention decided to carry on.
Minutes later, Moreki would leave Pant in further pain. As Pant tried to keep one down, he ended up playing the wrong line and was hit in the abdomen area, forcing the physio to come out again for the third time in 20 minutes. After a brief gap, with Pant still visibly showing discomfort with his forearm, the signal was sent to the dressing room to send a new batsman in.
Pant walked off retired hurt and even after night watchman Kuldeep Yadav fell, there was no sign of him walking in as Harsh Dubey came in instead. With the first Test starting next week, India would be keeping their fingers crossed over the availability of their first-choice wicketkeeper.
