TimesofIndia.com in Manchester: Around 11 am local time, Rishabh Pant arrived at Old Trafford cricket ground with his injured right foot protected and secured inside a moonboot. He used a crutch for support and slowly made his way to the away dressing room. In lightning quick time, the wicketkeeper-batter changed to the Indian whites and was captured in the balcony behind head coach Gautam Gambhir. Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!He had not accompanied the rest of the team in the bus to the ground and it was later revealed by Shardul Thakur that an early hospital visit forced him to arrive nearly two hours later. The visuals of Day 1 were still fresh in everyone’s mind and it was difficult to even entertain the outrageous thought of Pant coming out to bat in that condition. The swelling, the bleeding and the inability to put the injured foot down made it impossible to imagine the 27-year-old walking down the staircase from the dressing room to the ground.
All heads panned towards the steps when Shardul Thakur was dismissed and the capacity crowd was up on its feet when they saw Pant hobble out to the middle. The scoreboard, the situation of the match and cricket took a backseat because what was unfolding in front of everyone was an exhibition of grit, courage and the desire to contribute for the team. There was a sense of shock in the opposite camp too because they didn’t expect Pant to play any part in the Test and him walking out did catch them a bit off guard.
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He stretched his overnight score of 37 to 54, hit a six off Jofra Archer, limped for singles and gave another example of why impossible is ‘I’m possible’ in Pant’s dictionary. If batting with a painful finger at Lord’s wasn’t enough, the left-hander took it to a different level by batting with a fractured toe. An injury which required him to rest for at least six weeks but all that took a backseat as Pant wanted to score those crucial runs lower down the order.Multiple trips to the hospital and the hours put in by the medical team kept the plan of keeping him ready to bat in place, and there was a lot of excitement in the dressing room. They were aware of the seriousness of the injury but knew the grit would take over.“Everyone was very excited to see how he would approach his innings. And I think what he showed today, the passion he showed for the team is unmatched. We have seen a lot of instances in the past where he has batted in fractures. I think there was a time when Graeme Smith was batting in the South African team. His hand was fractured. “So, in these moments, the grit of the player comes into play. And I think Rishabh’s positivity and his grit keeps him away from all the pains and whatever pain he has. His pain bearing capacity is very high. If he is in pain, it is a big injury,” said Shardul Thakur in the post-day presser.With Pant, it has been the case of grit over matter and will not be a surprise if it remains that way in the second innings too. There is no official word on his participation in the last Test but it is very unlikely. Manchester, however, could see another glimpse of the freak who dances to his own tunes. If the situation demands and the team needs, the crutches will be ditched, the moonboot will come off and he will descend those steps again to give his all for the team. Possibly one last time in the series.
