Rishabh Pant Suffers Knee Injury in India's Training Session, Injury Scare for Rohit and Gambhir Ahead of Champions Trophy

Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant sustained an injury to his left knee during drills at the ICC Academy in Dubai on Sunday. The incident occurred as Pant was standing beside the net where Hardik Pandya was practicing his batting, and a powerful shot from the all-rounder struck Pant directly on the knee. As reported by The Times of India, the impact caused Pant significant discomfort.

The left-handed batter went down immediately and looked in pain. The physio came running out and applied an ice pack. For the uninitiated, Rishabh Pant had received significant damage on the same knee during his horrific car crash in December 2022.

After a while, Rishabh Pant got back on his feet and limped for a bit. According to the Times of India report, Hardik also went straight to his teammate to ensure the youngster was alright.

Hardik and Rishabh Pant exchanged hugs before the latter's knee got heavily strapped. The wicketkeeper also made his way to the changing room.

Rishabh Pant also came out to bat after a brief while. However, he did not look comfortable covering the distance from the changing room to the middle.

India held their first training session on Sunday ahead of the upcoming ICC Men's Champions Trophy 2025. Rohit Sharma and co will begin their campaign against Bangladesh on February 20 at the Dubai International Stadium.

KL Rahul first-choice wicketkeeper

Rishabh Pant did not play a single ODI against England in the three-match series. After the third and final match, head coach Gautam Gambhir confirmed KL Rahul as the first-choice wicketkeeper.

"KL is our No 1 wicketkeeper, and this is what I can say at the moment. Rishabh Pant will get his chance, but at the moment, it is KL who has done well, and we cannot play two wicketkeeper-batters," Gambhir told media at the series-ending press conference.

In the first two ODIs against England, KL Rahul came out to bat at No.6, and several former cricketers said Pant would be better suited to bat at No.6 as he can strike the ball big from the get-go.

Gambhir also said that the management would keep the batting order flexible as he didn't confirm a batting slot for KL Rahul.

"We don’t look at averages and stats. We look at who can deliver when," said Gambhir.

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