IND vs NZ: Rishabh Pant scored a half-century after returning from injury, equalling Farooq Engineer in this matter

Indian team's wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant performed brilliantly in the second innings of the first Test match against New Zealand and scored the 12th half-century of his Test career. Pant, who came out to bat on the fourth day, has so far shared a 113-run partnership for the fourth wicket with Sarfaraz Khan. Pant was injured while wicketkeeping on the second day of the match and had to leave the field, but he came out to bat and tried to rescue the team from trouble.

Pant was injured on Jadeja's ball.

Pant was injured while wicketkeeping on the second day of the first Test match being played against New Zealand in Bangalore and had to leave the field. Pant got injured when Devon Conway missed the ball off Ravindra Jadeja's ball Pant could not catch the ball properly and the ball hit his right leg directly. It is known that when Pant was seriously injured in a car accident in December 2022, he suffered an injury in his right leg. Jadeja's ball missed the stumps and hit Pant's leg and he was seen in pain and left the field with the help of the physio. After this, Pant did not come out for wicketkeeping on the third day as well and Dhruv Jurel took over this responsibility in his place.

There was a discussion going on about whether Pant would be able to come out for batting or not. However, on the fourth day, he not only came out for batting but also showed his strength with the bat. Pant took charge along with Sarfaraz and was largely successful in rescuing India from trouble. However, on the fourth day, rain also disrupted the match and the match had to be stopped. By the time the match was stopped, India had scored 344 runs for three wickets in the second innings. Sarfaraz is present at the crease with 125 runs and Pant with 53 runs. Due to the match being stopped due to rain, lunch was also announced early.

Pant equals Farooq Engineer.

With his half-century, Pant has equalled former India batsman Farooq Engineer. Pant has become the joint second batsman to score 50+ runs the most number of times by an Indian wicketkeeper in Tests. Pant has scored 50+ runs 18 times in 62 innings in this format. Farooq has scored 50+ runs 18 times in Tests in 87 innings. Former Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni is at the top of this list, he has scored 50+ runs 39 times in 144 Test innings.

Left Kapil behind in terms of hitting the most sixes in the Tests

Pant has hit three sixes in the second innings against New Zealand so far and has become the sixth batsman to hit the most sixes in Tests for India. Pant now has 62 sixes in this format and has left behind Kapil Dev in this matter, who had hit 61 sixes while playing for India in the red ball format. The record for hitting the most sixes in Tests is held by Virender Sehwag who hit 90 sixes in his Test career, while Indian captain Rohit Sharma is in second place with 88 sixes.