India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant had his first nets with Team India after more than 16 months on Wednesday afternoon in New York’s Nassau County area, ahead of their ICC T20 World Cup opener against Ireland on June 5.
The nets session took place at Cantiague Park, located more than five miles away from the Nassau County Stadium, where the team will play three league games besides the warm-up match against Bangladesh on June 1.
Cantiague Park is the official training facility for the teams, designated by the International Cricket Council (ICC), and features six drop-in practice pitches.
On March 23 this year, Pant played for Delhi Capitals while making an emotional comeback after the horrific car crash in 2022 but he is more eager to don the national colours.
“Getting back on the field with an Indian jersey on is a different feeling altogether. this is something I missed a lot...Hopefully I (can) make it count and make it better from here,” Pant said during a chat on bcci.tv.
Pant, who underwent an intense 15-month rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy, had teammate Suryakumar Yadav for company during the interaction and recalled the time how his presence helped him cope with the loneliness of his injury management programme at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.
“Seeing the team here and meeting them again, spending time, having fun with them, having a conversation with them, I really enjoyed,” Pant said.
Having scored 446 runs in 13 IPL games, Pant is slowly getting back into the groove. The leaner and fitter Pant looked in nice touch at the India nets.
Pant also spoke about the prospects of cricket gaining popularity in the US going forward.
He felt the T20 World Cup could be the start of an eventful chapter.
“We are used to playing in certain countries but this is a different prospect.
“It has opened up a different channel for sport because I feel cricket is growing around the world and...getting the exposure here would be nice for cricket as well as USA cricket,” he said.
He spoke about the drop-in pitches that will be used during the tournament.
“New pitches are there. I’m just getting used to the conditions. The sun is a little bit brighter here, so just getting used to the conditions over here. Let’s see how it goes,” Pant said.