India vs New Zealand ODIs: Rishabh Pant has been ruled out of the three-match ODI series between India and New Zealand, starting on January 11. The major setback to the Indian team has come on the eve of the series opener, which is scheduled to be played at the BCA Stadium in Kotambi on Sunday.
Pant sustained an abdominal injury during India's final training session. Having experienced sudden discomfort in his right lateral abdominal area while batting in the nets, Pant received medical attention. As Pant looked in immense pain, he was also attended to by the team’s support staff and other members, including head coach Gautam Gambhir.
Pant walked off the field at the BCA Stadium’s Ground B, where India captain Shubman Gill was seen having a lengthy conversation with the chairman of selectors, Ajit Agarkar. Following an MRI scan, which was conducted with a detailed online consultation with Dr Dinshaw Pardiwala, it has come to light that Pant's side-strain will take at least 10 days to heal. As a result, the star wicketkeeper-batter is unlikely to be available for selection for any of the three ODIs.
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Ishan Kishan, who has been recalled to the T20I set-up after two years, is likely to be called up to the Indian squad as the reserve wicketkeeper for the last two ODIs. An official announcement is expected on Sunday, ahead of the first ODI. The three-match series will mark the return of skipper Shubman Gill and Shreyas Iyer from their respective injuries. India will be heading into the series on the back of a 2-1 victory over South Africa.
Gill recently talked about his take on the presence of the veteran batters Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma during the initial days of his captaincy. Notably, Gill took over India's Test and ODI captaincy from Rohit earlier this year. "One is one of the greatest openers of all time in ODIs, and Virat bhai is one of the greatest ODI batters ever, so definitely when you have these two people in your team, it makes your life a lot easier.
"If you are in a tough situation, they [Rohit and Kohli] always have been in those kinds of situations and conditions many times in their life, so you can always go to them and see how they are thinking or what they would do, and that piece of information is very valuable for any captain."