IND's net session ahead of 2nd Test: Pant at ease, Gill sighted; KL Rahul falters with Sarfaraz absent

It was a challenging season for Pant in Bengaluru due to injuries. During Day 2 of the match, while fulfilling his role as wicketkeeper, he aggravated the knee that had previously been operated on in early 2023 after a car accident. Despite being rested the following day, Pant made a courageous comeback on Day 4 by scoring a remarkable 99 runs. However, he wisely chose to sit out of fielding duties on the final day to prioritize his recovery.

With India wanting to be "extra careful" about Pant, as said by captain Rohit Sharma last week, especially with the more important Border-Gavaskar series coming up, there were talks around the management likely to rest the keeper and play Dhruv Jurel instead. But the India star shut the talk around his fitness following a long training session in Pune, as reported by Rev Sportz.

The report mentioned that Pant was merciless against the spinners during his batting session, with his trademark slog sweeps, with no apparent signs of discomfort. In fact, he did not have a strapping on his injured right knee as well, and he later underwent a 20-minute long keeping session under the watchful eyes of head coach Gautam Gambhir and fielding coach T Dilip.

The India batter's position in the line-up has been questioned after Sarfaraz Khan, who had to sit out in the Bangladesh series owing to Rahul's return to the format, scored 150 in the Bengaluru Test against New Zealand after filling in for injured Shubman Gill. Meanwhile, Rahul, who was put against the second new ball on the fourth evening, returned with a score of 12 off 16, following a first-innings duck.

While experts reckoned that Rahul might have to sit out if Gill returned to the playing XI for the second Test, but India assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate told the media on Tuesday, "If you go on just the past three months since Gauti has been in here, he’s keen to give him (Rahul) as much rope as we can. We have a lot of faith in him."

“But at the same time, it’s a very competitive environment, with Sarfaraz getting 150 plus runs (222 not out) in the Irani Trophy final. The decision will be what’s best for the team, but we’ll certainly back all the guys in,” he added.

Despite the backing, while Rahul looked decent against the spinners in the net session, he visibly struggled against the likes of Akash Deep and Prasidh Krishna, and also while facing throwdowns, as mentioned in the report. However, his batting session was closely monitored by ten Doeschate.

Sarfaraz Khan, who became a father on Monday, skipped the training session on Tuesday and will be linking up with the Indian squad on Wednesday to train.

The India No. 3 had missed the opening Test owing to stiff neck. But he was the first to have arrived at the nets on Tuesday for a batting session, and later had an extended practice, facing throwdowns from ten Doeschate and Abhishek Nayar. He also had a short catching session with the fielding coach.