NEW YORK (US) : Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant had an intense nets practice session on Tuesday ahead of his side’s ICC T20 World Cup campaign opener against Ireland set to take place on Wednesday in New York.
India, the inaugural T20 World Cup champions from 2007, will be kickstarting their campaign against Ireland in their group A clash. The Men in Blue will be hoping to win the whole thing and secure their first International Cricket Council (ICC) trophy since 2013’s ICC Champions Trophy win.
One of the key players for India will be their keeper-batter Pant, who just made his return to competitive cricket during the recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 as a captain of Delhi Capitals, after a life-threatening car accident back in December 2022.
Rishabh’s team Delhi Capitals finished in the sixth spot with seven wins, seven losses and 14 points and failed to move to playoffs. He scored 446 runs in 13 matches at a strike rate of over 155 with three half-centuries and emerged as the team’s top run-getter.
In the warm-up game against Bangladesh at the Nassau County Stadium in New York, Pant looked in top form as he scored a fine 53 in just 32 balls, with four boundaries and four sixes, contributing to his team’s 60-run win.
The team took part in two practice sessions during the last couple of days, including seniors Virat Kohli and skipper Rohit Sharma on day one. Rishabh sweat it out in the nets and took on Axar Patel and Avesh Khan’s bowling to the cleaners with some fine hits.
Pant is likely to play his first international match since the accident when India takes on Ireland.
Squads:
India Squad: Rohit Sharma(c), Yashasvi Jaiswal, Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav, Rishabh Pant(w), Hardik Pandya, Ravindra Jadeja, Axar Patel, Kuldeep Yadav, Jasprit Bumrah, Arshdeep Singh, Mohammed Siraj, Yuzvendra Chahal, Sanju Samson, Shivam Dube
Ireland Squad: Paul Stirling(c), Andrew Balbirnie, Lorcan Tucker(w), Harry Tector, Curtis Campher, George Dockrell, Gareth Delany, Ross Adair, Barry McCarthy, Mark Adair, Joshua Little, Craig Young, Benjamin White, Neil Rock, Graham Hume. (ANI)