TimesofIndia.com in Manchester: The moment the ball crashed into the side of his right boot, Rishabh Pant was in serious pain. England went up after their appeal was turned down, and the replays suggested that some bat saved the left-hander after he failed to make a good connection with the audacious reverse-sweep. Pant survived the shout for leg before but couldn’t survive the pain, as he struggled to stay still due to the unbearable pain. The moment the boot came off, one could see the swelling as the camera zoomed in on the impact point.The physio gave the initial treatment; there was some blood, but the pain didn’t subside as the 27-year-old continued to grimace. The damage was done, and Ravindra Jadeja was getting ready to walk out. But when Pant tried to stand up, he couldn’t keep the foot down. A mini-ambulance was summoned to ferry the stumper back to the change room.
A solid partnership was developing between Pant and Sai Sudharsan, but the injury allowed England to bring some momentum their way, and they made it count. With light fading, England saw this as the opportunity to have a real crack at the visitors. For the entire day, the hosts were relentless but got a solid response from India in the morning session, where the conditions remained overcast but good for batting.Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!There was some anxious energy when the longer hand of the clock inched closer to the Lunch break, as India batters have been guilty of losing concentration close to the end of sessions. They wouldn’t have wanted a repeat at Old Trafford, especially after the start, and both KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal ensured there were no casualties this time around. 78/0 was a job well done, and with both Rahul and Jaiswal getting their eye in, a post-Lunch feast was on the cards.
Rishabh Pant had a swollen and bloodied right foot after being struck by a delivery on Day 1 of the fourth Test between India and England at Old Trafford, Manchester. (AP)
Manchester has been very wet for the last one week, but it had very little bearing on the nature of the surface. Even after the rain and the moisture seeping in, the surface remained on the drier side, and it didn’t have the spicy carry and the pace everyone expected it to offer. Chris Woakes asked a lot of questions early in the morning, but the rub of the green went to Jaiswal as he survived the edgy period and grew in confidence as the innings progressed.There was a nice buzz around the ground as the crowd got behind both teams, but India threw the start away as they lost wickets of KL Rahul, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Shubman Gill in quick succession. It was Gill’s wicket which gave Ben Stokes, and the entire England team, a spring in their stride, and they were very incisive during that passage of play.Sai Sudharsan had a trial by fire as Stokes stuck to his leg-side trap for the youngster, and it nearly paid off before Jamie Smith made a mess of a regulation catch behind the stumps. It could have been a horrible session for the visitors, but Sudharsan battled it out with Pant, and together they ensured India remained in control even when the few cracks on the pitch were doing the odd trick.
Sai Sudharsan plays a shot during the fourth Test between England and India at Old Trafford, Manchester. (AP)
Sudharsan was attacked on the stumps from around the wicket, had a trap for the flick/pull on the leg side, and he was presented the bait far too often, but he maintained the solidity and stuck to his character. For 150 deliveries, the left-hander gave a solid account of his batting temperament but perished pulling Stokes to Brydon Carse in the deep. All the hard work was undone by a shot that was not true to the character the left-hander is known for.India lost the set batter, and not far away from action, another left-hander was receiving first aid at the ground’s medical centre. Accompanied by physio Yogesh Parmar and the medical team, Pant got attention before he was stretchered into an ambulance for further scans/treatment at a nearby medical facility. In the middle, Shardul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja ensured there was no further damage as the team ended Day 1 at 264/4.
