Why Dhruv Jurel has replaced Rishabh Pant as wicketkeeper in ongoing first Test against NZ?

The struggle against New Zealand continues for India in the ongoing 1st Test match as the Kiwis have taken a lead of 131 runs in 48 overs. India hit a low point as they scored just 46 runs in the first innings where only Rishabh Pant scored 20 runs. Apart from him, no one touched the 20-run mark which was highly disappointing and embarrassing. The toss backfired on India as Rohit Sharma chose to bat first with overcast conditions. 

New Zealand bowlers dismantled the batting attack and Matt Henry went on to claim a fifer against a star-studded Indian team. However, in the second innings, substitute Dhruv Jurel came into the field as a replacement wicketkeeper for Rishabh Pant. Well, the reason behind this was Rishabh Pant's injury. While he was keeping it, the ball came and hit Pant's right knee, which was the unprotected part. Moreover, it's the same knee that was injured during the life-threatening crash last year. 

Pant seemed in pain as the physios came in and took him back to the pavilion. The day is about to end which gives him the time to rest. He is a prolific keeper and batter, and his absence will trouble India a lot if the injury gets serious.

India's concerning performance against New Zealand in 1st Test match

The M. Chinnaswamy Stadium, Bengaluru, turned into a beautiful stadium where the ball started swinging both ways due to the overcast conditions and the rain. The stadium felt like the match was in Australia and England, and the first innings behaved in that manner when the New Zealand bowlers were bowling. In such conditions, Indian batters were all out for 46 runs, which was extremely concerning. The main reason behind this is they will be travelling to Australia for the BGT 2024 and if they qualify for the WTC Finals, the Men in Blue will be playing at the Lord's where the conditions will be exactly the same. 

Now the concern is the batters' performance in such conditions. If they aren't able to perform in their home ground, nobody knows what will happen in the future. This was an eye-opening game for the batters and they will have to do better in the upcoming matches.