NCA will clear Rishabh Pant on March 5, says Sourav Ganguly

Star India batter Rishabh Pant is almost ready to make his return to professional cricket. The 26-year-old suffered multiple injuries after a horrific car accident on December 30, 2022, and following this, he underwent multiple surgeries and was ruled out of IPL 2023, the Asia Cup, and also from the ODI World Cup. As things stand, Pant is all set to make his comeback in the upcoming edition of the Indian Premier League and may even lead Delhi Capitals in the entire season.

As per mentor Sourav Ganguly, the National Cricket Academy (NCA) is likely to clear Pant on March 5, following this, the cricketer is expected to join the Delhi Capitals camp. However, the former India skipper clarified that the team management doesn’t want to push him in excitement and will take things slowly with Pant as he is a very important part of the team. 

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Ganguly also added that in case Pant isn’t fit for a few games, there are other players available who can lead the team and mentioned that either of Kumar Kushagra, Ricky Bhui, Shai Hope, and Tristan Stubbs can keep wickets in case Pant isn’t fit.

“He has done everything to get fit and that’s the reason NCA will clear him. Let Rishabh get cleared on Mar 5 only then we’ll talk about captaincy backups. We are taking a cautious approach with him because he has a very long career ahead of him. We don’t want to push him in excitement,” Ganguly told The Times of India.

“We will see how Rishabh reacts. He will be joining the camp once NCA gives him the clearance. We will see match by match. We can’t predict. As for wicketkeeping options, there’s Kumar Kushagra. Ricky Bhui has had a very good season. There is Shai Hope and Tristan Stubbs,” he added.

Ganguly shares an update on Prithvi Shaw

After winning the U19 World Cup, Prithvi Shaw was deemed as the next big thing in Indian cricket. He was given an opportunity in the Test squad but the cricketer failed to impress. Soon after that, his off-field activities made the headlines and Shaw was removed from the scheme of things. He had a terrible season last time around but Ganguly expects Shaw to turn things this time and shared that the youngster is fitter and is scoring a lot of runs.

“Prithvi is batting really well. He went to play county and scored a lot of runs last season. The only thing about him is that he thinks a lot about strike rate. That needs to be balanced. He is getting fitter too. There was over-reliance on overseas players last year. That shouldn’t be the case this year,” the 51-year-old said.