After weeks of uncertainty over his fitness, Rishabh Pant has left for New Zealand early on Thursday morning and will link up with the India Test squad in Wellington on Friday, ahead of the series beginning on November 19. He was recovering from a side strain and has been given fitness clearance from the BCCI medical staff.
Pant had been undergoing rehab at the BCCI's Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru since October 23 after suffering the injury during the Irani Cup between October 1 and 4 in Srinagar, where he was captain of the Rest of India squad. By the time he got to the CoE, Pant had been picked in India's Test squad for the tour of New Zealand, and also in the India A squad for three four-day games against New Zealand A in the lead-up to the Test series. His participation, though, was subject to him getting fitness clearance.
Pant was ruled out of the first two four-day matches between India A and New Zealand A, and was then supposed to fly out in time for the third fixture between November 7-10. However, his rehabilitation was extended as the BCCI medical team wanted Pant to spend more time at CoE as part of the fitness assessment.
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In Wellington, Pant will join the Test squad, along with captain Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and Anshul Kamboj, who left the ODI squad after the third of five matches to prepare for the Test series.
While Pant will be confident of playing the Wellington Test from November 19, his late arrival poses a question for the team management. Do they pick both Pant and Dhruv Jurel, who led India A against New Zealand A, in the XI? Or do they pick only one of the two wicketkeepers and go with both B Sai Sudharsan and Devdutt Padikkal instead? Jurel made a hundred and a half-century in four innings against New Zealand A, while Sai Sudharsan had scores of 91 and 88 in five innings, and Padikkal made 199 and an 80 in five innings too.
The series is critical to India's chances of making the World Test Championship final. They are currently fourth in the standings, while New Zealand are first, followed by South Africa and Australia.