Here is why Rishabh Pant hasn’t taken to the field during day 3 of first Test vs New Zealand

*India’s bad start to the series against New Zealand suffered yet another miserable blow on Thursday. Rishabh Pant hobbled off the field injured after he was struck on his knee while keeping. Dhruv Jurel came out to take over the wicketkeeping duties on the third day of the game with Pant not in picture. 

Rohit Sharma speaking at the end of the day said “"Unfortunately, the knee. The ball went and hit straight on his knee cap, the leg which he had surgery on. So, he has got a little bit of swelling on it. The muscles are bit tender at this point of time. It's a precautionary measure”

Rishabh Pant was the best batter for India with 20 runs out of the 46 the home team scored. The left-handed batter was one of the two batters to get into double figures as the Kiwi pacers decimated the Indian batters. This was India’s lowest ever score in home conditions after they won the toss and chose to bat first. 

Rohit Sharma takes blame for shambolic display 

Five Indian batters including Virat Kohli and KL Rahul were out for ducks. This was the first time in nearly 25 years that such a feat had been achieved. Speaking at the end of the day, Rohit Sharma took blame for reading the pitch wrong and batting first. 

India’s skipper said "We thought it won't help seamers much after the first session or so; there wasn't much grass either. We thought it would be flat. It was a misjudgment, and I couldn't read the pitch well” 

When asked if Pant will be fit to take the field on Friday, India’s skipper said "We don't want to take any risks. Rishabh did not want to take a risk. He has gone through a massive surgery on that particular leg. That was the reason for him to go inside. Hopefully, tonight he can recover and we will see him back on the field tomorrow”

New Zealand lost Daryl Mitchell early when he fell to Mohammed Siraj for 18. Yashasvi Jaiswal standing in his favorite gully position took an easy catch. At the time of writing the visitors were 194/4 with an overall lead of 148.