Rishabh Pant (PTI Photo/Sailendra Bhojak) Rishabh Pant’s return to red-ball cricket was almost fairytale-like. The India A captain, playing his second innings after a three-month injury lay-off, fell just 10 runs short of a brilliant century on the fourth day of the unofficial Test against South Africa A at the BCCI’s Center of Excellence in Bengaluru on Sunday.Pant continued his overnight innings of 64 and looked fluid as he raced to 90 from just 113 balls. His knock, packed with 11 boundaries and four towering sixes, brought the Bengal crowd to their feet before he was dismissed by Tiaan van Vuuren looking for another big hit. Chasing 275 for victory on the final day, India A were 208 for 6 at the time of writing, still needing 67 more runs.
How and why Rishabh Pant’s tour of England could come to an abrupt end due to a broken big toe
Pant had earlier broken his toe during the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy in England earlier this year after being hit on the leg by a Chris Woakes delivery in the fourth Test. The injury was so painful that he had to be carried off the field and was unable to keep goals for the rest of the match. Yet in a moment that summed up his spirit, he returned to bat later in the innings, his leg in a cast, to help India save the match.Reflecting on his recovery, Pant told BCCI in a video: “It was really challenging for me. I had the fracture in England and I had to go through the whole process. The first part was six weeks of healing and then I came to the CoE. The healing went well.”He added: “I started my rehabilitation slowly, first I did physio, then I started strength training and finally I moved to the second phase. Now here I am, thanks to the CoE team, fully recovered.”Talking about how to stay mentally strong during recovery, Pant said, “Being positive is all about mindset. When you’re injured, it’s easy to get frustrated and lose energy. You have to find the little things that make you happy and keep doing them.”
