Rishabh Pant severely injured; KL Rahul, Nitish Reddy to play Ranji Trophy matches

KL Rahul and Rishabh Pant [Source: @screwgauge77, @I_am_Harshit_17/x]

KL Rahul is set to join the Karnataka team in the ongoing 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season for a match later this month. Earlier this week, fellow senior Indian pros Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja were also tipped to turn up for their respective sides in the tournament.

The report also indicates that rising all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy is available to play for Andhra, while senior wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant will likely be heading to the Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bengaluru as part of his rehabilitation program.

KL Rahul to return to Karnataka team for Ranji Trophy resumption

As reported by the Times of India, senior Indian batter KL Rahul is expected to make his return to the Karnataka team for the upcoming second phase of the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season. The 33-year-old recently featured in India’s three-match home ODI series against New Zealand, aggregating 140 runs in three innings which included a fighting century in Rajkot last week.

However, KL Rahul will reportedly be joining the Karnataka team only for their final Elite Group B match of the tournament against Punjab later this month. The match will be hosted by the PCA Stadium in Mohali between January 29 and February 1. 

The elegant Indian top-order batter will miss Karnataka’s upcoming group fixture against Madhya Pradesh at the KSCA Cricket Ground in Alur between January 22 and January 25.

In other news, Indian all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy has also made himself available for Ranji Trophy duties for his Andhra cricket team. Much like KL Rahul, Nitish Kumar Reddy also featured in Team India squad for the ODI series against New Zealand, and is currently not in national plans for the upcoming 2026 T20 World Cup.

Nitish Kumar Reddy represented the Andhra team in the SMAT 2025 and Vijay Hazare Trophy 2025-26 seasons.

Shubman Gill and Ravindra Jadeja have already joined Punjab and Saurashtra respectively for their upcoming Elite Group B match of the competition. The two teams will be squaring off at the Niranjan Shah Stadium C in Rajkot for a four-day clash between January 22 and January 25.

Rishabh Pant to miss Ranji Trophy, likely to head to CoE

Senior Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant is unlikely to feature in the 2025-26 Ranji Trophy season owing to his injury. The cricketer has not been named in Delhi squad for their upcoming Elite Group D match against Chhattisgarh at the CoE 2 in Bengaluru starting January 22 onwards.

Rishabh Pant is also unlikely to regain full recovery before Delhi’s next group game on January 29. Instead, the cricketer could be headed to the BCCI CoE within the next few days to work towards his recovery. An additional report claims that the star Indian stumper has a Grade 2 tear, and it will take at least 15 days for his pain to reduce.

Earlier this month, Pant sustained an injury while training in the nets, and was forced to rule out of India’s three-match ODI series against New Zealand.

Rishabh Pant had also sustained a nasty foot injury in England last year, which kept him out of the series-decider at The Oval as well as from India’s two-match home series against the visiting West Indies cricket team.