Manchester, Jul 24 (PTI) Indian vice-captain Rishabh Pant coming out to bat with a fractured foot is a testimony to his commitment for his team and an act of bravery that will be remembered for years to come, just like Anil Kumble dismissing Brian Lara with a broken jaw back in 2002.
Pant retired hurt on the opening day of the fourth Test against England after trying to reverse sweep Chris Woakes. He was well set on 37 then. Scans revealed that he had fractured his right foot.
On the second day, he was back at the crease and playing through excruciating pain, scored a half-century and also had a hand in two partnerships which cumulatively yielded 35 runs.
“When you do things like this — gestures like Anil Kumble bowling with his jaw strapped, those are moments in history you remember 50 years from now. It shows how keen he is to turn up for India,” Manjrekar told Jio HotStar.
“There’s something about Test cricket, especially when it’s being played in England. Look at the amount of attention you get as a cricketer here. This is where he wants to give his best. If you wonder why he hasn’t made the same impact in white-ball cricket, maybe this is why. Because Pant wants to leave a mark on Test cricket more than any other format.” Manjrekar feels that it was entirely Pant’s decision to go out there and bat.
“When we saw Rishabh Pant with Gautam Gambhir having a chat, he was in his whites — we thought maybe he might come out to bat at the end of the innings. Who would’ve thought he’d walk in after the fall of the very next wicket?” Manjrekar said that even if Pant was physically down, he was never out of the game.
“He is injured, but don’t rule out this guy. If he’s told one day that he can’t move his feet, he’s got such wonderful hand-eye coordination that he’ll still be able to dominate.
“So England would be worried that Rishabh Pant is back, even though he looked clearly in pain. This is clearly Rishabh Pant’s decision; he decided, ‘I’m going to go out there,” Manjrekar added. PTI KHS AH AH
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