IND vs AFG 3rd T20I: In a surprise appearance ahead of Team India’s 3rd T20I against Afghanistan, wicketkeeper batter Rishabh Pant met the Indian players at the National Cricket Academy. Pant was seen having animated chats with the players, including Virat Kohli and captain Rohit Sharma.
Team India is set to play their third and final T20I against Afghanistan at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on January 17. With two wins in the bag, India has already sealed the three-match series. Rohit Sharma and his boys will aim to sweep Afghanistan.
Rishabh Pant is currently recovering at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru. The glovesman suffered brutal injuries in a car accident in December 2022, which he fortunately survived. It has been nearly 13 months since Rishabh Pant met the tragic accident, but he is yet to be declared fit for the match.
The left-handed batter joined the Indian team during their fitness assessment session at the NCA and had some casual chats with the players. Pat didn’t train with the other players, but had some shadow batting and had throwdowns from the members at the NCA.
As per the visuals, Rishabh Pant had batting practice for a good 20 minutes before the Indian team arrived at the M Chinnaswamy stadium for their net practice.
The wicketkeeper batter greeted all the players with warmth and had brief chats with them.
Notably, Pant is tipped to make his comeback during the Tata IPL 2024 for Delhi Capitals (DC). Sourav Ganguly, Director of Cricket DC, backed him to play the next edition of the IPL.
“He’s (Pant) good now. He will play in the IPL next season. There’s still time for him to get down to practice. By January (2024), he’ll get even better,” Ganguly had said.
He is still reserved as the captain of Delhi Capitals (DC) and retained by the franchise ahead of the IPL 2024 for a massive INR 16 Crores.
Below are some pictures shared by the BCCI as the team had a net session in Bengaluru:
IND vs AFG 3rd T20I: Team India aim for a clean sweep
After convincingly winning the two games in Mohali and Indore, the Men in Blue would be looking for a comprehensive win in the third T20I in Bengaluru. Rohit Sharma-led Team India has so far produced a complete effort with Shivam Dube with the bat and Axar Patel with the ball standing out from the rest.
While Dube has been fantastic in the middle order, Axar Patel has managed to curb the run-flow more often than not and scalped crucial wickets.
Team India is expected to make a few changes in the playing11 for the 3rd T20I as it is a dead rubber. The likes of Avesh Khan and Kuldeep Yadav, who have warmed the benches so far in the series, might get some get time along with wicketkeeper batter Sanju Samson.
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