"Toota Bhi Hota Toh...": Injured Rishabh Pant To Ravi Shastri Before Heroic Comeback In Manchester Test
Rishabh Pant's heroic act during the fourth Test between India and England at Old Trafford, Manchester will be remembered for ages.
- Rishabh Pant fractured his toe after recovering from a finger injury in the Manchester Test
- Pant retired hurt but returned the next day to score a crucial half-century for India
- Former India coach Ravi Shastri revealed the conversation he had with Pant before the start of match
Rishabh Pant's heroic act during the fourth Test between India and England at Old Trafford, Manchester will be remembered for ages. While batting, Pant got hit on his right toe by a Chris Woakes delivery. He tried to play a reverse sweep and missed the ball, which injured his right toe. The part of the foot got swollen and it also started bleeding. Such by the injury that Pant needed an ambulance cart to take him out of the ground. He was later taken for scans and further treatment. The player was retired hurt with bleak chances of a comeback but what the Old Trafford crowd witnessed on the very next day was nothing short of a sensational story.
A hobbling Pant with his foot injury came out to bat for India again. He resumed his innings at the score of 37 and went on to score a crucial half-century for India. He was eventually dismissed for 54 as Jofra Archer cleaned him up with a terrific ball.
While talking about Pant's heroic act, former India player Ravi Shastri revealed that the player was ready to play for the team, even if he had a broken finger.
"Before this Test I asked him how is that finger? Toota toh nahi hai? (It has not broken right?) You will play this game? He said 'Of course I'll play. Toota bhi hota toh khelta (Even if it was broken I would have played)," Shastri said in a video released by BCCI.
"For him to come back and do what he did, was something special. Because sometimes your motivation goes to another level. What he did today for the team, if that doesn't lift the team up, nothing will. The ovation he got going out and the one he got coming back. And the applause he got from everyone from the England team out there, that's what you live for. that is what you play for. And that's what makes heroes. So it shows what he wants, he wants to play, he loves playing Test cricket, for the country. If anyone doubted whether he was a team man, they got to see it first-hand today. That requires more than just steel," he added.
Pant's fighting fifty helped India score 358 before being bowled out against England in their first innings in the Manchester Test.
India Cricket Team
England Cricket Team
Rishabh Pant