Rishabh Pant appears to be maximising his recovery period, both on and off the field. Following months of rehabilitation after a foot injury in the England Test series, the wicketkeeper-batter has made progress and is preparing to return to competitive cricket later this month.

Pant is likely to feature for Delhi in the Ranji Trophy, with his right foot set for a final assessment by the BCCI’s medical team at the Centre of Excellence (CoE) this week.

“As of now, there’s a possibility he could be cleared by October 10. An assessment is scheduled this week. It has been a long recovery for him, and the BCCI medical team doesn’t want to rush anything,” a BCCI source told TOI earlier.

Pant sustained a fracture during the Manchester Test in July.

Initially, his recovery was expected to take six weeks, but the injury worsened after he batted the next day, leading to a longer recovery period. However, Pant has been training regularly in recent weeks.

In a light-hearted moment during his recovery, Pant recently surprised fans on social media by revealing a new skill. He captioned the post, “Not bad for the first try.”

What caught fans’ attention even more was Pant’s confident declaration of “bullseye” before releasing the arrow from his bow. Pant also shared a video of his training session.

“They got me in the corner, but I came out with flying colours.” Pant has shown his interest in participating in the Ranji Trophy matches in Delhi from October 25, a senior DDCA official confirmed.

Pant is set to lead Delhi in the Ranji season before India’s home Test series against South Africa, which will kick off on November 14.