[WATCH] Rishabh Pant visits Team India's camp in Alur ahead of Asia Cup 2023
Rishabh Pant recently made a surprise visit to Team India's camp in Alur, Karnataka, ahead of the Asia Cup 2023. The Indian contingent assembled a few days ago and is currently in the final phase of their preparations for the continental tournament.
Pant, who suffered a horrific car accident last year, is currently on a comeback trail. He is now undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.
The 25-year-old wicketkeeper-batter traveled from Bengaluru to Alur to reunite with his teammates before they fly off to Sri Lanka for the Asia Cup.
In a video shared by the Indian Cricket Team on Instagram, Rishabh Pant was seen exchanging pleasantries with his teammates and sharing a laugh with them. This is the first instance when Pant was spotted with the Indian cricketers after his car accident in the wee hours of December 30.
"Look who joined #TeamIndia’s training session in Alur 😃 Hello there @rishabpant 👋," they captioned the post.
It is worth noting that Pant is recovering faster than expected. He has already started batting in the nets and will require another few months to get back into action.
In all likelihood, the Delhi-born cricketer will miss the ICC ODI World Cup on home soil, starting from October 5. He has already missed several important games for the Men in Blue, including the ICC World Test Championship final, which India lost to Australia.
"Comeback is quite far away as of now" - Aakash Chopra on Rishabh Pant
Former Indian batter Aakash Chopra reckoned that Rishabh Pant will take some more time to return to the field in full tilt despite facing bowlers who bowl at 140 kph.
"Rishabh Pant had posted a video where Shreyas Iyer and KL Rahul were seen batting after a long time," Chopra said on his YouTube channel. "Now his videos have come from which it seems he is coming back. He has started batting against the bowling machine. He has started playing against 140 kph but Pant's comeback is quite far away as of now."
Pant was last seen in action during the two-match Test series against Bangladesh last year, which India won by a 2-0 margin.