Will Rishabh Pant play the 4th Test vs England? Shubman Gill reveals

Team India captain Shubman Gill has assured the Indian fans that the Indian vice-captain and keeper-batter Rishabh Pant would be fit enough to play the fourth Test against England, scheduled to take place from Wednesday, July 23 at Emirates Old Trafford in Manchester.

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Notably, Pant was hit on his left index finger when he was trying to stop the ball bowled by Jasprit Bumrah on the second day of the Lord’s Test. Though he tried to continue keeping, he couldn’t withstand pain for a long time and eventually Dhruv Jurel had to come in as a keeper.

"I think Rishabh is fine - he didn’t suffer a major injury, which is good news. I think he should be fine for the next Test match," Shubman Gill said at the post-match press conference.

India suffered a heartbreaking loss in the 3rd Test of the 5-match series against England. Playing at the Lord's Rishabh Pant was injured on Day 1 of the Test match, while keeping wickets against India seamers. Pant bruised his finger badly while diving to the leg side, when the ball hit him on the index finger of his left hand.

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For the unversed, Team India suffered a close 22-run defeat on the fifth and final day of the Lord's Test as they are trailing the five-match Test series by 1-2 with two more games to go. Gill felt that Pant’s run-out in the first innings was the major game-changing moment as India was aiming for a 50 to 100-run lead.

"At one point, we felt we could get a 50 to 100 run lead, which would’ve been massive on Day 5 when batting gets tough. That was a big turning point. Had we secured that lead, we could've put England on the back foot," he added.

While Pant smacked a 74-run knock in the first innings in 112 balls with eight fours and two sixes, he could add only nine runs to his tally in the second innings before getting bowled off Jofra Archer.

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