Despite having navigated through a hectic schedule and shifted multiple bubbles since his comeback to the side late last year, India’s star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant said he doesn’t have complaints around his workload.
Pant has been on the road since returning to the Test side for the Boxing Day Test in December against Australia. After the challenging tour Down Under, he played the all-format home series versus England in February-March.
From there he turned up for the Indian leg of IPL 2021 in April, the World Test Championship final against New Zealand in June, the Test series in the UK in August and then the UAE leg of the IPL 2021 in September-October. Immediately after that, Pant played his maiden T20 World Cup in the Middle East and has just finished a three-match home T20I series against New Zealand.
All this while doing the difficult job of being a batting-keeper and having to go through stringent bio-bubbles and tackle various other health safety measures amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
This is why the break from the two-Test series versus the Kiwis, starting November 25, is a welcome one. The selectors and the management have given Pant a much-needed breather before the all-format tour of South Africa begins on December 17.
Speaking to host broadcaster Star Sports at the end of India’s win in the third T20I in Kolkata, Pant indicated that he did not ask for the break personally. But the team management gave him some time off. And that he is now looking forward to be fresh and ready for the series against Proteas.
“I can’t be complaining about the workload but the team management has given me offs from the next two Test matches. Hopefully, I can recover well and do well in South Africa,”
he said.
In Pant’s absence, senior pro Wriddhiman Saha is expected to don the gloves for the two WTC fixtures versus the Kiwis in Kanpur and Mumbai. Srikar Bharat is also part of the squad as a backup wicketkeeper.
India will play three Tests, three ODIs and four T20Is on their tour of South Africa.
