Rishabh Pant: Rishabh Pant ruled out of Test cricket

Rishabh Pant fitness test: 29-year-old Rishabh Pant has been selected in the Indian squad for the two-match Test series against New Zealand. Pant, who is considered one of India's leading batsmen in Test cricket on foreign soil, is not yet fully fit. He has been injured for a long time and is currently undergoing rehabilitation at the Center of Excellence in Bengaluru.

Pant has been ruled out of the third unofficial Test against New Zealand 'A' after failing a fitness test recently. Earlier, he was included in the India 'A' squad for the three-match series, but he could not play the first two matches due to injury

Injury during Irani Cup in Srinagar

Rishabh Pant suffered a 'side strain' injury during the Irani Cup match played in Srinagar last month. After recovering from this injury, he has to pass a mandatory fitness test before returning to the field, which he has not been able to pass yet

However, hope is still alive for Pant. He will get one more chance to prove his fitness. If he passes the second mandatory fitness test in a few days, he will be able to reach Wellington and join the Indian team

What do BCCI sources say?

PTI quoted a BCCI source as saying, "The chances of Rishabh Pant playing in the third unofficial Test against New Zealand 'A' are now negligible. The team management wants to give him a little more time to recover, so that he can be fully fit and join the team for the Test series and start training in Wellington."

The picture about Pant's condition will be completely clear only after the results of the second fitness test are out

Indian squad for the two-match Test series against New Zealand:

Shubman Gill (captain), KL Rahul (vice-captain), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Devdutt Padikkal, Sai Sudarshan, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Ravindra Jadeja, Washington Sundar, Anshul Kamboj, Rishabh Pant (subject to passing fitness test), Dhruv Jurel, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Akash Deep, Prasidh Krishna and Kuldeep Yadav<>