All eyes will be on Rishabh Pant as India prepares for the fourth Test against England in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025. India is down 1-2 in the series with losses at Headingley and Lord’s, while winning at Edgbaston. The fourth test of the series will be played in Manchester from July 23 onwards.
Meanwhile, Pant is in the spotlight after suffering a finger injury during the Lord’s Test that led to Dhruv Jurel keeping wickets as a substitute for the majority of the match. Rishabh Pant did bat and scored 74 in the first innings; he was in visible pain while playing his shots and needed medical attention.
Former India head coach Ravi Shastri has made a harsh assessment: Pant should not play at all if he is unable to keep wickets.
"I don't think he should go in as a specialist batter if he can't keep. He'll have to field, and if he fields, that'll be worse. With the gloves, at least there's some protection. Without gloves, if he gets something that stings him there, then it won't be very good. It'll worsen the injury,” Shastri said in a video shared by the ICC.
Pant chose light workouts over keeping and hitting drills at Thursday's optional training session in Beckenham. While there was no apparent tape on the finger, sources stated that the discomfort persisted.
India's assistant coach, Ryan ten Doeschate, stays optimistic.
"Look, I don't think you're going to keep Rishabh out of the Test no matter what. He batted with quite a lot of pain in the third Test, and it's only going to get easier. But keeping is the last part of the recovery. We don’t want to go through that again where we have to replace the keeper mid-match,” Ten Doeschate said.
Ten Doeschate stated that Jurel is still in contention, but Pant will only play if he can play both roles. However, Shastri was emphatic.
"He’ll have to keep, and he’ll have to bat. He can’t do one of the two. If it’s a fracture, he should rest and be ready for The Oval. But if not, he has about nine days to recover," Shastri said.
Here is the video:
