India Test vice-captain Rishabh Pant, sidelined with fractured toe, shared a playful golf session on social media. Ruled out of the West Indies series, he is undergoing rehab, with chief selector Ajit Agarkar hopeful for his South Africa tour return.
India Test vice-captain and wicketkeeper-batter, Rishabh Pant, had a fun golf session amid his recovery from the fractured toe sustained during the Old Trafford Test against England in Manchester in July. Since Pant has yet to recover from the injury, he was not picked for the upcoming Test series against West Indies, which will begin on October 2.
After sustaining a fractured toe, Rishabh Pant was ruled out of the Test series decider at the Oval and was advised to rest for six weeks. The 27-year-old was supposed to make his return to competitive cricket in the Test series against West Indies after he was ruled out of the selection for the recently concluded Asia Cup 2025, which the Men in Blue successfully won. However, the southpaw could not recover in time before the West Indies Test series.
Recently, Pant has checked in at the BCCI Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru for rehabilitation and recovery as he prepares to make a comeback to competitive cricket after being sidelined for two months.
Pant enjoys the golf session
As he recovers from injury, Rishabh Pant has taken some time out to try his hand at golf after being ruled out of the West Indies Test series.
Pant took his Instagram handle and shared light-hearted pictures from the golf session, along with a video of him trying out swings and enjoying the game while recovering from injury and rehabilitation.
Along with pictures and a video, Rishabh Pant humorously captioned, “Never knew golf could be this much fun. Next time anyone’s heading out, count me in.”
Before being ruled out of the Oval decider against England, Rishabh Pant had an impressive run of form in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series as he amassed 479 runs, including 2 centuries and as many fifties, at an average of 68.42 in seven innings. Pant was the first visiting wicketkeeper-batter in England to score 400 runs in a single Test series.
Rishabh Pant was the second wicketkeeper-batter after Zimbabwe cricket legend Andy Flower to score a century in both innings of a Test match, achieving the feat in the England Test series opener at Headingley in Leeds.
When will Rishabh Pant return to action?
As Rishabh Pant has been sidelined from the cricketing action after being ruled out of the West Indies Test series due to his recovery from a fractured toe, the main question is when the wicketkeeper-batter will return to action. In his absence, Ravindra Jadeja was named vice-captain of the Test series against England, leading the team alongside skipper Shubman Gill.
Speaking at the press conference for the India Test squad announcement in Dubai, chief selector Ajit Agarkar expressed his hope for Rishabh Pant’s availability for the Test series against South Africa in November.
“Rishabh is the vice-captain at the moment and a key player, but unfortunately, he hasn’t quite recovered to make this particular Test series. We’re hopeful that he’ll be available for South Africa,” Agarkar said.
This means Rishabh Pant would not be available for the white-ball series against Australia, which will begin from October 19, starting with the ODI leg, as the team management prioritizes his full recovery before returning to international cricket.