Rishabh Pant is set to be unavailable for the fifth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy, which former England captain David Gower feels would be a huge loss to the series. Pant fractured his toe while attempting a shot on Day 1 of the fourth Test at Old Trafford, which led to him having to retire hurt. He then remarkably continued his innings while batting almost on one foot and scored 54 in 75 balls but Dhruv Jurel is keeping wickets.
Gower said that Pant and Ben Duckett are continuing the rich tradition of some of the great left-handed batters he has seen in the past. “Tongue-in-cheek…we have always said left-handers are the best. For some reason when you look at left-handed batsmen it seems to be more graceful than right-handed. I’ve watched a lot of great left-handers from my days growing up, Gary Sobers for one, Brian Lara of course probably the best of those when I was first starting to grace commentary boxes and describe these things,” Gower told PTI.
“Now we have a guy called Ben Duckett, he has a very different style to mine but incredible to watch. Every time I look at him bat you’re kind of wondering what happens next and you cannot forget especially in the context of this series, Rishabh Pant.”
Gower, who scored 8231 runs from 117 Test matches for England, said the series would be poorer in Pant’s absence, if the Indian star is ruled out of the remainder of the series. “I’m actually so sorry that he’s injured, and if this foot thing is terminal (and he is out of the series). There is a man who does the things that only others dream of. Some people call them nightmares but he’s an absolutely brilliant extraordinary player to watch.
“So, you cannot replicate what he does. You cannot ask a young player, say age 15-16 to bat like Rishabh Pant, go on try that because that would be probably fatal to their career. But when you’ve got someone like that who plays this most extraordinary version of the game you cannot but admire it. He takes incredible to another level,” said Gower.
Pant has been advised six weeks of rest and was expected to not travel to the ground on Day 2. However, was eventually spotted in the dressing room in full gear and he then hobbled out after Shardul Thakur was dismissed shortly before Lunch. Pant went on to score 54 in 75 balls despite not being able to run.
