Pant confirmed as wicketkeeper, Bumrah's workload to be assessed after Pune Test

Rishabh Pant has no injury concerns and is set to keep wickets for India while the team will decide on Jasprit Bumrahs workload after the IND vs NZ 2nd Test starting on Thursday said head coach Gautam GambhirPant copped a blow on the second day of the opening Test in Bengaluru and was replaced by Dhruv Jurel behind the wickets Pant returned to score a fine century but did not keep wicketsPant had a hit at the nets and also had a wicketkeeping drill with Gambhir on TuesdayAbsolutely Gambhir said on Wednesday when asked if everything was fine with the wicketkeeperbatterI think hes going to keep wickets tomorrow There are no other fitness concerns he addedBumrah has played each of the three Tests at home this season and with the Australia tour less than a month away India will decide on resting the ace fast bowler after the IND vs NZ 2nd TestOnce the series is over we still have around 10 or 12 days before the first Test starts in Australia That is enough break for our fast bowlers as well But we will still monitor after this Test match where Jasprit Bumrah is Gambhir saidBut its not only about Jasprit Bumrah Its about with all the fast bowlers as well We want to keep them fresh We know that obviously weve got a long tour and an important tour of AustraliaWorkload management will definitely depend on what the outcome of this Test match is and how much have they bowled in this match he addedAlso ReadWill it be caution over ambition for India in PuneGambhir said that Shubman Gill who missed the Bengaluru Test due to stiffness in his neck will play the IND vs NZ 2nd Test as the No 3 batter has attained full match fitnessShubman Gill isnt coming into the side he was already there He was injured in the last match Its not the case that hes new to the team Because of the injury he didnt play the last match He had an issue with his neckGiven how he performed against Bangladesh he will come back into the playing XI The rest of the team will be decided tomorrow Thursday morning before toss he saidGambhir underlined his coaching philosophy of putting more emphasis on wins even against all odds as India staged a remarkable fightback in BengaluruThis is why we call cricket and sports as big levellers If you enjoyed such days as we did in Kanpur then you will have to accept such days as we did in Bangalore he saidBut the good thing was that despite being all out for 46 we were still looking to win the Test that was important This is the way we want to play cricket I have said before also that our first option will always be to win and the second option will be to drawThere was no such intention in the second innings that we were looking to play out the next twoandahalf days We were thinking about how to make the match out of it and if you ask me we were probably 100 runs away he addedAlso ReadIndias middle order conundrum Sarfaraz Khan vs KL Rahul who fits the billGambhir said India showed the intent with which they want to play Test cricket in the opening matchI dont think there will be many teams who will be thinking like this even after being shot out for 46 when you have to bat more than twoandahalf days but this is the quality we have and this is the kind of cricket we want to play in the future he saidGambhir said batting to save a Test is not likely anymore since T20 cricket has made batters more aggressiveTo a certain extent its good because when I batted in Napier the T20 format was just introduced said Indias 2007 T20 World Cup winnerNow with so much of T20 cricket around you expect players to be more aggressive The game has changed and we have to accept that as well We will need a lot of temperament and a lot of mental toughness to bat for two or twoandahalf daysBut again if the decision of the leadership group or the team management is to just go there and still try to win the game that is very importantHad we decided to bat twoandahalf days the guys would have batted much differently But the intention was always to make the game out of it irrespective of where we are and how much behind we are in the game he addedWith agency inputs