Rishabh Pant (L) and Shubman Gill© X (Twitter)
India B batter Rishabh Pant failed to score big on his return to red-ball cricket as he was dismissed for just 7 following a stunning catch by India A captain Shubman Gill during the Duleep Trophy encounter in Bengaluru on Thursday. Pant was making his return to red ball cricket after 634 days after he was seriously injured in a car accident back in 2022. However, the return was short-lived as he completely miscued a delivery from Akash Deep. The ball went high up in the air and Gill had to run backwards in order to reach it. However, the youngster was up to the challenge and he completed a brilliant catch.
Earlier, Pant warned against taking Bangladesh lightly in the upcoming two-Test series, and stressed on the need for India to keep improving themselves to stay ahead of the competition.
Bangladesh, who recently blanked Pakistan 2-0 at Rawalpindi, will face Rohit Sharma's side in the first Test at Chennai from September 19 before moving to Kanpur.
— BCCI Domestic (@BCCIdomestic) September 5, 2024
India will play a total of 10 Tests within the next five months as the series against Bangladesh will be followed by three Tests against New Zealand at home in October-November before moving to Australia for the five-Test Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
"Asian countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka perform well in Asian conditions because they are accustomed to the wickets,” Pant told Jio Cinema.
“As the Indian cricket team, we focus solely on our own standards and how we can improve. Regardless of the opposition, we strive to play with the same intensity and give our 100 percent every single day,” he said.
Pant said no series can be taken lightly with the margins between the teams decreasing in international cricket.
"Pressure will always be there because in international cricket, you can't take any series lightly. The margin between winning and losing is very small, and nowadays, the gap between international teams isn't much either,” he said.
(With PTI inputs)