Will Injured Rishabh Pant Bat in Second Innings of 1st Test Between India-New Zealand in Bengaluru?

Ind vs NZ: Now that Rishabh Pant has not walked out to keep wickets on Day 3 of the first Test at Bengaluru, there are now speculations over will he bat or not? Pant got hit by the ball on his knee and had to leave the ground on Thursday. India captain Rohit Sharma gave an update about Pant's injury where he said that the wicketkeeper was hit on the knee that had a surgery in the past. This does not look good and it is highly unlikely he comes out to bat in the second essay. There is no confirmation on this, but at the moment - that is how it seems to be going. 

‘Leg he had surgery on’

"Unfortunately, the knee. The ball went and hit straight on his kneecap, the leg he had surgery on. So, he has got a little bit of swelling on it. The muscles are a bit tender at this point of time. It's a precautionary measure," Rohit said during the post-match press conference.

PANT'S IMPORTANCE

The team needs to take a close look on the extent of Rishabh's injury as the star wicketkeeper-batter's presence will be critical for the team when they will tour Australia for the Border-Gavaksar Trophy series. A major injury blow for the Men in Blue could derail their plans as they move ahead in their red ball schedule as the road leads to the World Test Championship Final.

Fans would be praying that Pant comes out to bat in the second innings as the hosts are absolutely on the backfoot in the ongoing Test at the M. Chinnaswamy.