Rishabh Pant's bittersweet message as he watches Indian batting crumble against Australia in WTC final

How much are India missing Rishabh Pant in the World Test Championship final? Well, by the look of it, pretty bad. With the Indian top-order capitulating against Australia at the Oval, the presence of Pant could have been quite the boost for India. Instead, in his absence is KS Bharat, who for all his wonderful wicketkeeping skills, doesn't possess the same batting credentials. Pant has been absolutely phenomenal for India in Tests, scoring centuries in Australia, England and South Africa and with him currently out of action, India are left with plenty to do. His counter-attacking batting when the chips are down is something the Indian team could have really done with.

Pant is currently back home in Delhi, recovering from a pretty serious car accident suffered on December 2022. Watching the action unfold miles away in London, Pant shared cryptic message for Team India on his Instagram. Pant has been forced to sit out of competitive cricket in recent months following the injuries caused due to the accident. He is still on his path back to playing cricket, currently going through a rehabilitation process, with his eyes set on the home ODI World Cup later this year in India.

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However, this doesn't prevent him from throwing the weight of his support behind the national team, as he shared a story to his 8.2 million Instagram followers during day 2, captioning a video of Indian batting with a 'fingers-crossed' and heart emoji.

Below is his Instagram story:

Pant has become one of the first names on the Indian team-sheet when fit, thanks to his exploits in Test match cricket in recent years. The young keeper-batter has become something of an X-factor for the team, with his aggressive and attacking batting earning many famous innings and victories for the national team. This includes a famous tour of Australia in 2020-21, in which Pant’s belligerence and confidence dragged India to the famous draw in the Sydney Test, soon followed by the winning runs in his unbeaten 89 in the fourth innings at the Gabba.

While Pant supports the team from home, many Indian fans would have hoped to see Pant play in this all-important WTC final in the UK, with his ability to be a gamechanger in important moments, and the quality he has shown against the Australian bowling line-up under difficult conditions in the past. He scored a scintillating century in the Edgbaston Test against England last summer, albeit in a losing cause, in India's last Test in a SENA nation. He is being deputized by Bharat, who made his debut in the Australia series earlier this year, and is making his overseas debut in this WTC final.

Pant is one of a number of significant team India members missing this Test match through injury, alongside KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, and Jasprit Bumrah. India find themselves struggling at the end of day 2, still trailing by 318 runs, and will feel they miss the services of such important players in the set-up. He is making a speedy recovery as his Instagram posts suggest. He has given up the help of crutches to walk and has been exercising raising hopes of a return to the Indian team this year.