A piece of great news for Indian cricket fans is that Rishabh Pant‘s recovery has progressed much faster than it had been expected by the doctors and the physios.
ESPNcricinfo recently reported that Rishabh Pant’s “fast pace of recovery has surprised the BCCI and the medical staff at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru.” He’s also now started walking with the support of crutches and climb stairs.
The 25-year-old keeper-batsman had suffered a near-fatal car accident last December, and he was fortunate to come out alive of the crash. Among many injuries, the most significant ones were on his knees for which he’s undergone a couple of surgeries.
After the operations and being discharged from the hospital, in April, he went to the NCA to continue his rehab.
Initially, it was believed that Rishabh Pant would return only by mid next year, around March or April 2024. However, now with his speedy progress, now it’s been learned that the BCCI wants to rush him for the World Cup 2023 which will be played in India in October-November.
Here’s why BCCI should not rush Rishabh Pant back for World Cup 2023:
Two montnth long World Cup not the ideal tournament to return from a long injury layoff
The 50-over World Cup will be played in the humid and heat conditions in India which will take a toll even on the fittest of the players, let alone Rishabh Pant, who’s never had physical fitness on his side and now it’s been aggravated with his injuries.
Pant last played for India in December 2022. So it would be a good 9-10 months since he will taken the field when the World Cup arrives. It would be extremely difficult for Pant to last the entire tournament with his comeback from a serious knee injury. He would not be advised to keep wickets in the first place, and even though his batting would be crucial for Team India, there would be no guarantee of form even if he somehow makes the tournament.
The injury could get even worse if he’s rushed before time
History contains number of examples where players playing with injuries aggravate their issues and it gets even worse for them, and in turn for the team. Team India and the BCCI learned this harsh lession with fast bowler Jasprit Bumrah.
Last year, in June-July, on the England tour, Bumrah had been rested from some white-ball games with a back “niggle”. That “niggle” turned out to be more serious and he was out for a couple of months missing the Asia Cup, but was rushed back to play in a couple of T20Is against Australia ahead off the T20 WC.
While Bumrah bowled at decent pace in those two matches vs Australia, that further worsened his back injury, and it ruled him out for a long time. He needed a back surgery this year for that and is planning to return in August, which will be 11 months since he played those matches against Australia when the BCCI rushed him back.
India don’t want another similar case with another player, not least Rishabh Pant, their future superstar, a key player, and a potential captain for the future.
