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As the Indian wicketkeeper, Rishabh Pant marked his comeback to red-ball cricket on Thursday, September 5, he opened up about the importance of international players participating in domestic competitions.

The 26-year-old, who last played a Test in December 2022 before the horrific car accident, is representing India B against the Shubman Gill-led India A in the Duleep Trophy 2024 which kicked off the Indian domestic season 2024/25 on Thursday morning.

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Rishabh Pant explains why international players should prioritise domestic competitions

Pant, after making a remarkable comeback after the accident, returned to competitive cricket in the recently concluded IPL followed by playing all the games in India’s triumphant T20 World Cup campaign in the USA and West Indies.

On his return to red-ball cricket in the Duleep Trophy, he talked to JioCinema saying,

 “I think it is an amazing feeling for me, also because when I met with the accident two years ago, I used to always think about when I would be able to play for India again.

"In the last six months, I played IPL, and we also won the World Cup. It's a great feeling as I have always dreamt of winning the World Cup since I was a kid. Now again I am returning to red-ball cricket and will play my first match in Duleep trophy almost after more than two years.”

Read More: Duleep Trophy 2024 schedule, fixtures, match times, latest results and points table.

The southpaw went on to stress the importance of international cricketers playing domestic games and the value they bring to the table.

Pant continued, 

“I think it is very important for us to play domestic cricket because as a cricketer match practice is always very important. Especially coming back to domestic cricket, the youngsters also learn a lot of things from us, they see you playing here, even after playing international cricket. There is a lot to give back to domestic cricket.

“It also gives us the opportunity to share all the learnings and experiences from international cricket with our colleagues, especially with the young players and newcomers; it gives them a huge boost since we all have reached here from playing domestic cricket."

How did Rishabh Pant perform in Duleep Trophy 2024?

On his return, batting at 5, Pant was just able to score 7(10) before handing a catch to Gill while facing Akash Deep. India B, thanks to Musheer Khan’s unbeaten 105 along with Navdeep Saini’s 29*(74) ended Day 1 of the fresh season at 202/7 in 79 overs bowled.

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Author(s)
Mayank Bande Photo

Mayank Bande is a content producer for The Sporting News’ India edition.