India captain Rohit Sharma opened up on Rishabh Pant not doing wicketkeeping from the fag end of Day 2 onwards despite the Southpaw having a brilliant outing with the bat in the first Test against New Zealand.
Pant, who was hit on his knee in the latter part of the second day, did not keep wickets in the remainder of the Bengaluru Test and was replaced by Dhruv Jurel on the field. Pant was hit on an unprotected part of his right knee off a Ravindra Jadeja delivery in the ending stages of Day 2.
India skipper Rohit has opened up on Pant's absence from the field despite him doing a fabulous job with the bat when he scored 99 in the second innings. "Pant had a massive operation on his knee. It's better to be careful. When he was batting, he wasn't comfortably running. We need to be extra careful. He has gone through a lot of trauma in the last couple of years, not easy to keep with pain so we needed him to have extra rest before the next Test," Rohit said at the post-match press conference after his team's eight-wicket defeat to New Zealand at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Rohit also heaped praise on Pant and Sarfaraz Khan for their brilliant partnership in the second innings. "Everyone is on the edge of their seat when those two (Sarfaraz and Pant) are playing. They like the play the game which has got them success. Rishabh, with the way he bats he takes a lot of risks but I thought it was a mature innings in the game.
"Defended good balls and left a few balls and then backed himself to play those shots as well. Sarfaraz showed great maturity as well. He is only playing his 4th Test match and to show that kind of maturity and very clear in his mind what shots he wanted to play," Rohit told broadcasters after the match.
Pant starred with the bat in the second innings, scoring 99 in India's score of 462 in the second innings. While he was eyeing his seventh Test ton, the wicketkeeper batter was dismissed one short of the mark by William ORourke. Notably, Sarfaraz made 150 in just his fourth Test.
