Rishabh Pant Back in the Blue: Eager to Prove Himself After 16 Months

In preparation for their opening match against Ireland on June 5 at the ICC T20 World Cup, India's wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant spent his first net session with the team in over 16 months on Wednesday in the Nassau County region of New York.

The net practice was held in Cantiague Park, which is almost five miles from Nassau County Stadium, the team's home field for three league games in addition to their June 1 warm-up match against Bangladesh.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has approved Cantiague Park as the teams' official training ground. It has six drop-in practice fields.

Pant made an emotional comeback to play for the Delhi Capitals on March 23 of this year, following the terrible car incident in 2022, but he is more excited to wear the national colours.

It feels like a completely different experience to return to the field wearing an Indian jersey. This is something that I really missed.Pant stated in a bcci.tv chat, "Hopefully I (can) make it count and make it better from here."

During the conversation, Pant, who spent a rigorous 15 months recovering at the National Cricket Academy, spoke with teammate Suryakumar Yadav. Pant recalled how Yadav's company helped him get through the isolation of his injury management program at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.

Pant remarked, "I really enjoyed seeing the team here, meeting them again, spending time, having fun, and having a conversation with them."

Pant is gradually finding his rhythm again, as he has scored 446 runs in 13 IPL games. At the India nets, the trimmer and more athletic Pant looked great.

Pant also discussed the likelihood that cricket will continue to grow in popularity in the US.

He thought that this T20 World Cup might be the beginning of something big.

Although we are accustomed to playing in other nations, this is a new experience for us.

"I feel that cricket is becoming more and more popular worldwide, and it would be beneficial for both USA cricket and cricket to have this exposure," he added. "It has opened up a different channel for sport."

He discussed the drop-in pitches that the competition will make use of.

There are fresh pitches available. I'm still getting used to the circumstances. Just getting acclimated to the conditions over here, the sun is a little bit brighter. Let's observe the outcome," Pant remarked.

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