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The grueling fourth Test of the five-match series for the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy between England and India culminated on Sunday, July 27. The visiting side, who were coming into the fourth Test after going down against the hosts by 22-run margin at the Lord’s in London, fought hard till the final hour to settle for a draw at the Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester. As a result, the series stands 2-1 in favour of the home side, who won the first and third Test in Leeds and London, respectively.
While the fourth Test had its own ebbs and flows, the Indian team too had their own struggles with injuries to several of their players. While prior to the start of the Manchester Test, Arshdeep Singh, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Akash Deep were confirmed to miss out due to their respective injuries, Rishabh Pant sustained a blow to his foot on the opening day.
Rishabh Pant ruled out of fifth Test vs England; N Jagadeesan called in as replacement
Despite the scary injury, Pant walked out to bat, playing a gritty knock of 75-ball 54. However, he was confirmed to bat on the final day if need arises, but a fighting 90 from KL Rahul and centuries from Shubman Gill (103), Ravindra Jadeja (107*) and Washington Sundar (101*) kept India in the game, forcing to settle for a draw. While the biggest question which was looming over the Indian camp was whether Rishabh Pant continue to play the series despite a fracture foot, head coach Gautam Gambhir finally broke silence on Sunday, July 27.
Speaking at the post-match press conference, Team India head coach Gautam Gambhir shared a big update around Pant, confirming that he will miss the upcoming fifth Test. "One thing I want to say is that the character and the foundation of this team will be built on what Rishabh did for the team and for the country as well. Any amount of praise is not enough for him, especially batting with a broken foot. Not many people have done that in the past. And he had put his hand up, and that is why I say any amount of praise - I can sit here and talk about this for hours and hours. I think the generations to come forward will talk about this,” Gambhir said.
"It's unfortunate because of the kind of form he was in. But again, he's an important member of the Test side. And I hope he recovers quickly and comes back quickly," he added. While Pant will miss the final Test, the Indian team have called in Narayan Jagadeesan as his replacement.
India's squad for fifth Test vs England
Shubman Gill (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav, Anshul Kamboj, Arshdeep Singh, N Jagadeesan (WK)
