Rishabh Pant ruled out of ODIs against New Zealand after fresh injury setback, BCCI names replacement

Rishabh Pant ruled out of the three-match ODI series against New Zealand after suffering an injury during a nets session.

Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant has been ruled out of the three-match ODI series against New Zealand, beginning Sunday, January 11, due to an injury. The 28-year-old faced a fresh setback on the eve of the game as he was hit just above his waist while batting against throwdown specialists. As soon as Pant was spotted grimacing in pain, he was attended to by the Indian team's support staff and other team members, including head coach Gautam Gambhir.

Rishabh Pant ruled out of the three-match ODI series against New Zealand(AP)

The injury turned out to be serious, and it's enough to keep him out of the series against New Zealand. The wicketkeeper has already left the Indian camp. The BCCI on Sunday named Dhruv Jurel as the replacement for the injured Pant.

“Wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant felt a sudden onset of discomfort in his right lateral abdominal area while batting in the nets during India’s practice session on Saturday afternoon at the BCA Stadium, Vadodara,” said the BCCI in an official release.

“He was taken for MRI scans immediately, and the BCCI Medical Team had a detailed discussion with an expert on his clinical and radiological findings. Pant has been diagnosed with a side strain (Oblique Muscle Tear) and is subsequently ruled out of the ODI Series,” the statement added.

Speaking of Jurel, he has been rewarded after being Uttar Pradesh’s top-scorer in the Vijay Hazare Trophy with 558 runs in seven matches, including two centuries, at an average of over 90.

Pant's career has been hindered by injuries lately. His flourishing career first hit a major roadblock in 2022 after he met with a horrific car accident. This led to a long absence from international cricket and the IPL.

Last year, he faced another setback after being hit on the toe while trying to play a reverse sweep off the bowling of Chris Woakes. This led to him missing the fifth and final Test against England, as well as the two Tests against the West Indies.

Pant picked despite contrary reports

Before the squad selection for the New Zealand ODIs, numerous reports stated that Pant would be dropped and his name wouldn't be included in the series against the Black Caps.

However, this wasn't to be the case as the selectors named Pant in the squad. The wicketkeeper hasn't played an ODI for a while, and his last game was in August 2024 against Sri Lanka.

Pant has played 31 ODIs so far, scoring 871 runs at an average of 33.50 and a strike rate of 106.21. He has only one century to his name in the format, and it came against England in the UK.

India's updated squad for the series against New Zealand: Shubman Gill (captain), Rohit Sharma, Virat Kohli, KL Rahul (wicketkeeper), Shreyas Iyer (vice-captain), Washington Sundar, Ravindra Jadeja, Mohd Siraj, Harshit Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Kuldeep Yadav, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Arshdeep Singh, Yashasvi Jaiswal, Dhruv Jurel.