T20 World Cup 2022: Rishabh Pant spotted with heavy strapping and ice pack on knee; fans suspect injury
Rishabh Pant could be used as a surprising element in the tournament.
Indian wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant was spotted with heavy strapping and an ice pack on his right knee during India’s warm-up match against Australia in the ongoing T20 World Cup.
Pant played both warm-up games against Western Australia XI, but he wasn’t on the team sheet for the match on Monday (October 17). Now, as per his latest pictures, fans are suspecting that he might have picked up an injury. The Men in Blue are already suffering with numerous injuries in the form of Jasprit Bumrah, Ravindra Jadeja and Deepak Chahar.
Although there has been no official news regarding the left-handed batter’s injury from the BCCI, the strapping and ice pack indicate otherwise. Dinesh Karthik, on the other hand, failed to capitalize on the opportunity as he departed for just 20 off 14 balls. It remains to be seen if Pant will be fit to participate in the warm-up game against New Zealand on Wednesday (October 19).
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Effective death over bowling by Harshal Patel and Mohammed Shami
Australia needed 16 runs off the last two overs and with the presence of firing Aaron Finch and Tim David, it looked like it was their game. But Harshal Patel surprised the Australian captain by bowling a full-toss slower which went on to crash into the stumps. On the very next ball, Virat Kohli’s eagle-eyed throw paved the way for Tim David to the pavilion.
Patel conceded only five runs in the penultimate over, leaving 11 runs for Mohammed Shami, who was bowling the last over. Despite playing a competitive game after a long gap, Shami backed up his strength as picked three wickets in his over to take India home. Rohit Sharma’s side won the battle by 6 runs.
The Indian captain revealing why Shami was held back and given only one over said: “Honestly, he is coming back after a long time. So we just wanted to give him an over. This was always the plan from the beginning. He comes and bowls at the death. We know how lethal he can be with the new ball. We just wanted to give him a little bit of a challenge, coming and bowling that death over and we saw what it was.”
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