“Who would have thought that he would be coming into bat” - Sanjay Manjrekar hails Rishabh Pant

Former Indian cricketer and commentator Sanjay Manjrekar has heaped praise on the Indian vice-captain and keeper-batter Rishabh Pant for coming out to bat despite sustaining a fracture on his right toe on the opening day of the Manchester Test.

Manjrekar asserted that there is no possibility of head coach Gautam Gambhir and Indian captain Shubman Gill having any role in requesting Pant to occupy the crease after sustaining a fracture.

Moving into the details of Pant’s injury, while attempting a reverse sweep off Chris Woakes’ yorker-length delivery, he got hit on his toe, which caused him a lot of pain. Later, he was stretchered off the field as his toe was visibly swollen. Eventually, the medical team requested Pant to rest for at least six weeks.

Nevertheless, Pant decided to come out to bat as soon as Shardul Thakur lost his wicket on the second day of the ongoing Test. Though Manjrekar thought Pant would come out as the final batter, he was surprised to see him immediately after Thakur’s wicket.

“When Pant was there with Gautam Gambhir, having a chat, we thought there was a chance that he might come in maybe at the end of the Innings, and the kind of demeanour that he had in the dressing room is such a hard man to read. Who would have thought that he would be coming into bat at the fall of the next wicket? He hasn't looked like he did before the injury, and Ben Stokes, the first ball that he bowled to him was a yorker. He was going for that front foot, ankle off stump,” Manjrekar told JioHotstar.

“That's how cricket has to be. But now we have to cast our minds back to batters of certain pedigree and class who have hobbled onto the middle, have done some wondrous things in cricket. And don't rule that out with this guy, because this is the guy. You know, it is said that one day you can't move your feet, you can only bat with your bat. He's got such wonderful hand-eye coordination that he'll still be able to dominate. So England would be worried that it was shut down. Go back, you know, even though he looked really clearly in pain,” he added.

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