One of the biggest concerns for India heading into the second Test against New Zealand next week, following an eight-wicket loss in Bengaluru in the series opener on Sunday, will be Rishabh Pant's fitness. The India star had skipped his wicketkeeping duties in the second innings of the first Test after being rested throughout Day 3 following a knee injury on Day 2.

Pant had injured his knee while fielding on Thursday, and was helped out of the field as Dhruv Jurel substituted him. BCCI's Medical Team, in a precautionary move, urged wicketkeeper to rest on Day 3, but Pant returned to action to score a valiant 99 in the second innings, before opting out of keeping duties on Sunday.

India captain Rohit Sharma, on Sunday, speaking to the media in the post-match conference, admitted that the management would have to be ‘extra careful’ with Pant, given that he incurred an injury on the same knee where he underwent an operation in 2023 following a car crash.

“He’s had a lot of minor surgeries and one big surgery on his knee and went through a lot of trauma, to be honest, in the last one and a half years. So it’s just about being extra careful, not just careful with him,” Rohit said.

While Rohit did not specify if Pant would be fit enough for keeping duties in the Pune Test against New Zealand, The Indian Express reported that the Ajit Agarkar-led selection committee have left the decision to head coach Gautam Gambhir and the captain to take a call on Pant’s inclusion.

“When you’re keeping, you have to bend every ball with your knee going down and the wicket being what it was, we thought it is the right thing to do for him to stay inside and then get 100 percent ready for the next one,” Rohit added.

“It’s just to be a little careful about where he is at and what he is to us. Even when he was batting, he was not comfortably running. He was trying to only put the ball in the stands.”

Jurel set for India Test return?

With the all-important Border-Gavaskar Test series in Australia just a month away, where Pant would be needed more than ever, India would want to keep him fit and perhaps a decision to rest him for the second New Zealand Test would be a wise call. Moreover, India do have an able back-up in Dhruv Jurel, who had impressed the selectors with his batting and wicketkeeping on debut against England earlier this year.

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