Watch: Rishabh Pant returns to the field, smashes six over covers in first practice game after accident

Watch: A batting video of Rishabh Pant has emerged, his first after his near-fatal car accident last December. The crowd cheered him on as he made his way to the crease and smashes the ball around.

Pant has been out of action for more than eight months now after suffering major injuries following a car crash. He has been recuperating at the National Cricket Academy and has been making steady progress.

According to a BCCI release last month, Pant had started his batting and wicketkeeping practice. But no footage of him doing either was out in the public, until today.

In a video tweeted by a fan, Pant is seen walking out to bat in a practice game at JSW Vijayanagar. His entry to the ground is greeted with loud cheers from the fans that are present there.

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Pant faces three balls in the video. He drives one of those down the ground, plays and misses an attempted cut, and lofts a six over extra cover, much to the delight of the fans that are there to witness him bat after such a long time. While Pant’s walk to the crease looks slightly laboured, he seems at ease while batting and playing his shots.

Pant’s absence has hurt India in multiple formats. They lost the World Test Championship final against Australia, and have struggled to find a replacement wicketkeeper in Tests.

In ODIs, the middle order is in disarray as KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer, the two other mainstays of the middle order, have also been out with injuries.

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The World Cup starts in less than two months. While this video of Pant batting comes as good news for Indian fans, his road to complete recovery may still take a while.

Rahul and Iyer, meanwhile, are close to attaining match fitness and were seen batting in a practice game at the NCA a few days back, raising hopes for their comeback before the World Cup.