When Rishabh Pant injured his right toe, trying to reverse sweep Chris Woakes, on day 1 of the Manchester Test, it looked like there was no chance that he could bat again in the series. But then Pant lived up to his reputation of presenting something to the opposition, that they did not expect. Coming into bat early on Day 2, after the departure of Ravindra Jadeja, injured Pant was welcomed with a standing ovation by the crowd.
Rishabh Pant Scores Yet Another 50
And after limping a few runs, he decided, that going for the shots would be a better option. First he pulled Jofra Archer for a massive six, down the mid-wicket boundary, and then in the next over, followed that up with a block against Ben Stokes, that raced away to the boundary, to hand Rishabh Pant his 17th Test fifty of the career.
Meanwhile, this happens to be his fifth 50 plus score in the series, having scored close to 500 runs against England here. To add to that, he also becomes the only keeper from India to score 1000 runs in England. If we take a closer look at his numbers in England, in 13 Tests, he has scored 1035 runs till now, at an average of 43, including four tons and five fifties.
Surpasses 1000 Runs in England
Eventually, running out of partners from the other end, Pant had to go for his shots, and was eventually dismissed by Jofra Archer for 54. Talking about the importance of this innings, given the context of the match, this has to be one of his most satisfying knocks, where despite being badly injured, he did not give up meekly.
As far as the other batters are concerned, Shardul Thakur chipped in with a valuable 41, and Washington Sundar scored 27. That meant, despite the adversity, India crossed 350 in the first innings of the match.
