English pundits Nasser Hussain and Stuart Broad want a speedy return of Rishabh Pant in the Manchester Test match. Pant, who was carried out of the field in an ambulance on Wednesday, is suspected to have broken his right toe. Pant’s injury occurred in the 68th over after his attempted reverse sweep had the ball take the under-edge of the bat and hit just above his right toe.
Pant looked in excruciating pain and could not even put any weight on his right foot. The wicketkeeper-batter was taken to the medical centre, where he will be awaiting results of his scans on Wednesday, July 23.
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English pundits on Sky Sports — Nasser Hussain and Stuart Broad — hoped that it was only a bad bruise for Pant and that the batter would return to play on Thursday, Day 2 of the Test match.
“It has been India’s day – except for the injury to Pant. That is a big blow and it will be interesting what we hear overnight about that. Hopefully he is okay. This game needs Pant and the series has been blessed by having him in it,” Hussain said on Sky Sports at the end of the day’s play.
“Both sets of fans cheered him today when he came out to bat,” he further added.
Pant had batted exceptionally well in the second session of the match on Wednesday. The vice-captain came into the crease after Shubman Gill’s dismissal in Manchester and had to navigate a tough phase of play. He added 72 runs with Sai Sudharsan in the second and third sessions, before being forced to leave the field.
During his stay, Pant took on the England seamers, playing some magnificent shots throughout the day. Stuart Broad reflected on the same and hoped that the medical staff are able to patch Pant up before Day 2 of the 4th Test.
“Pant has been wonderful to watch and commentate on. He’s wonderful for world cricket, and we hope he recovers. The medical staff will be icing that swelling all night, and hopefully it’s just a bruise and he can come out to bat,” Broad added.
While Nasser and Broad were optimistic, former England cricketer Mike Atherton remained concerned about the player’s injury. Atherton believed that Pant was unlikely to return back in this Test series.
This is not the first injury that Rishabh Pant has copped in the series. The keeper-batter was hit on his finger on Day 1 of the Lord’s Test match, which forced him out of the keeping duties in the previous game. It was expected that Pant would play as a specialist batter in the 4th Test, but ended up making a speedy recovery in the 8-day break.
At the moment, it seems that Pant will be ruled out of the Test match, which means that Dhruv Jurel will once again be taking up the wicketkeeping gloves in this Test series.
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