IND vs ENG 2021: Team India welcomes back 'Baazigar' Rishabh Pant after he defeats COVID-19

Rishabh Pant has been reunited with the Indian Test squad in the United Kingdom after a battle with the Coronavirus. The wicket-keeper batsman was in isolation since testing positive for COVID-19 on July 8.

He successfully defeated the deadly virus and has joined the Indian camp in Durham now, where the visitors are playing a practice match against the County Select XI. Team India welcomed Rishabh Pant back in a typical Indian style.

The youngster was greeted with a garland of roses in Durham. Later, Rishabh posed with the squad members and uploaded a carousel of photos on his Instagram handle. He used a famous line from Shah Rukh Khan's movie Baazigar to announce his return to the Indian team.

"हार 🌺 के बाद ही जीत है और जितने वाले को कहते है बाज़ीअगर. (The ones who win after losing are called game-changers). Thrilled to be back" Rishabh Pant captioned his post.

Rishabh Pant thanked the head coach of the Indian cricket team Ravi Shastri for organizing a grand welcoming ceremony for him in Durham.

KL Rahul impresses in the absence of Rishabh Pant

Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul will contend for the wicket-keeping spot in the Indian playing XI for the Test series against the England cricket team

Since Rishabh Pant was unavailable for the practice match against County Select XI, KL Rahul played for Team India in that contest. The right-handed batsman smashed a 150-ball 101 in the first innings before retiring. Rahul also took two catches behind the wickets.

Team management will mostly prefer Rishabh Pant as the wicket-keeper for the first Test against England. However, KL Rahul's performance in the practice match might tempt the think tank to include him in the playing XI as well. It will be interesting to see if Rahul gets an opportunity to play in the series opener against England.

A fine CENTURY for @klrahul11 off 149 deliveries in the three-day warm-up game 👏#TeamIndia pic.twitter.com/844mUnONVR

— BCCI (@BCCI) July 20, 2021