London [UK], July 13 (ANI): Indian opener KL Rahul revealed that the team’s vice-captain Rishabh Pant was struggling to hold his bat and facing a lot of pain while batting on the third day of the Lord’s Test on Saturday.
In the 34th over bowled by Jasprit Bumrah on Day 1, Pant made a dive to pick up the ball, but could not get it cleanly in his hands, making England pick two runs off byes. Following that, he was seen in a lot of pain and had to leave the field for medical attention, as per Sky Sports.
Young Dhruv Jurel took the field as he replaced Pant as the wicketkeeper of the team in the second session of the first day of the Test match.
Speaking at the post-day press conference about Pant’s injury, Rahul told the media, “He was in a lot of pain gripping the bat. When the ball hits your bat, there’s a lot of friction. He got hit on the gloves as well a couple of times, which was not ideal. He was in a lot of pain. He kept telling me that he was missing out on a lot of balls that he felt should have gone for boundaries. He was very disappointed with that. I just had to tell him to weigh his options and see what are the best shots he can score like boundaries, rather than getting upset with the areas he can’t score off.”
Pant dashed records for fun and earned a place in history after his tenacious effort with the bat on Day 3 of the third Test against England at the ‘Home of Cricket’, Lord’s.
Pant etched his name in the six-hitting record books by surpassing the legendary Vivian Richards for tonking the most in Tests against England. The explosive southpaw also went level with former red-ball skipper Rohit Sharma for hammering the joint second-highest number of sixes for India in Test cricket.
Apart from his six-hitting fest, the 27-year-old southpaw eclipsed the legendary MS Dhoni to emerge as the Indian wicketkeeper-batter with the most runs in a tour to England. Pant also became the first visiting wicketkeeper to amass 400-plus runs in a single Test series in England.
Despite a finger injury that he sustained during the opening day of the Test, Pant fought valiantly, suffered blows and battled through pain to steer India through the opening session with his stroke mastery. During his rollicking 74(112), he smoked the ball into the stands for two towering maximums to break Richards’ milestone for most sixes against England in the format.
Pant has 35 sixes under his belt against England, bettering the former West Indies stalwart’s tally of 34. The belligerent swashbuckler went level with Rohti’s tally of 88 sixes for India in Test cricket, just two shy of becoming the joint-highest with Virender Sehwag (90). Pant achieved the feat in 46 Tests, 21 fewer than Rohit’s 67.
The Indian vice-captain has 416 runs to his name in three Tests, the most runs by an Indian wicketkeeper on English soil. Dhoni held the record for more than a decade, courtesy of his 349-run tour he savoured during India’s tour of England in 2014.
Pant’s game-changing exploits ended on the final ball before the end of the first session. While attempting to steal a quick single, Pant was late to set off and was caught short of the crease by England Test captain Ben Stokes’ brilliance. He picked up the ball, turned towards the non-striker’s end and rattled the stumps with his precise throw, forcing Pant to return on 74(112). (ANI)
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