India wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant marked his return to competitive cricket as captain of the India A side in the first four-day match against South Africa A, which began on Thursday at the BCCI Center of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru. Pant, who had been sidelined with a foot fracture sustained during the England Test in June, described the recovery process as one of the most demanding phases of his career.“I feel it was really challenging for me from the start because you know, I had that fracture in England and had to go through that whole process,” Pant said, speaking about his rehabilitation. He explained that the recovery was divided into stages, beginning with healing before moving to rehabilitation work at the CoE. “The first part of the process was healing. For the first six weeks you’re gonna heal the fracture first and then you have to come to CoE. That was the plan for the initial phase and that’s what I did and the healing went on nicely,” Pant said.Watch his recovery here The 28-year-old credited the physios and staff at the CoE for guiding him through the rehabilitation. “I started my rehab slowly, went through a little bit of physio work in the initial 10–15 days, slowly getting back to doing my strength, a little bit of rehab and it all started from there as a second phase for me and right now I’m here with you fully recovered thanks to CoE for that,” he added. Reflecting on the emotional challenges during recovery, Pant said staying positive was crucial. “Being positive is really a mindset thing. During injury you tend to get demotivated, the energy levels are not great, you are frustrated. But if you can do small small things that make you feel good, you have to do that part also especially when you are injured,” he said.
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He lauded the mindset of the coaching staff, saying, “When you talk to them you can feel that warmth that, yes, you’re going through a tough time, you’re doing that rehab but you can still come out of it with flying colors.”Pant also praised the Center of Excellence as one of the best places for both recovery and training. “You’ll find one of the best practice facilities also, it’s not just a rehab place. You have three big grounds, you have like 50 wickets for practice, you get center wicket practice. If a person wants to practice here I think this is one of the best places,” Pant said. The wicketkeeper-batsman will lead India A in both four-day games, with Sai Sudharsan serving as his deputy in the first match.In the first match, the skipper scored 20 runs from 17 balls before losing his wicket to Okuhle Cele. Team India A were bundled out for 234 and currently trail by 105 runs.
