Indian captain Rohit Sharma revealed that Rishabh Pant has swelling on his operated knee after a knock, but hoped the wicketkeeper-batsman can return to the field in the third Test against New Zealand on Friday. Pant failed to catch a sharply turned ball from Ravindra Jadeja that rolled over the wicket as it hit his knee in the 37th over of New Zealand's first innings. He soon limped off the field and was replaced by Dhruv Jurel.

The fact that the ball crashed into the kneecap of his left leg, which underwent multiple surgeries after that horrific car accident in late 2022, made it look all the worse.

“Unfortunately the ball hit his kneecap directly, the same leg he had surgery on. So he has a little swelling and the muscles are quite tender at this point of time,” Rohit told the post-day press meet.

But Rohit allayed any major concerns about Pant's fitness, saying the 27-year-old returned to the dressing room as a “precautionary measure”. “It is a precautionary measure. We don't want to take any risks. Rishabh doesn’t want to take any risk because he has undergone a serious surgery on this leg,” he said.

“So that was the reason for him to go inside. Hopefully he can recover tonight and we will see him back on the field tomorrow,” Rohit added.

Earlier, Pant, who scored 20, was the top scorer in India's miserable innings of 46.

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