"Rishabh Pant will be hobbling down those stairs" - Former England captain's massive claim after Day 4 of ENG vs IND 2025 4th Test

Former England captain Nasser Hussain believes the injured Rishabh Pant will bat on the final day of the ongoing Manchester Test, thanks to India's fightback on Day 4. Trailing by 311 runs after the first innings, the visitors were staring down the barrel at 0/2 in the first over of their second innings.

However, skipper Shubman Gill and opener KL Rahul fought back with an unbeaten 174-run partnership to take India to 174/2 at stumps on Day 4. Meanwhile, Pant suffered a series-ending injury on the opening day after being struck on his toe by a Chris Woakes delivery.

Despite the fractured toe, the wicketkeeper batter hobbled out to bat on the second day after the sixth wicket fell.

Speaking on Sky Sports about Pant repeating his heroic act on Day 5, Hussain said (4:38):

"The other thing now with this partnership is that at two down early, there was very little chance of Rishabh Pant coming out to bat. If they get close and then they get ahead, Rishabh Pant will be hobbling down those stairs because he is an absolute street fighter and then we'll have a situation where he'll try and survive. So England now will have to get eight wickets as supposed to seven."

The former England captain praised Gill and Rahul for their defiant partnership, saying:

"It's not just the runs but the way he (Gill) gets them. In terms of the temperament to come in at 0/2 and on a hattrick, I don't think you can ask for two better players, who are so calm at the crease, than KL Rahul and Shubman Gill. They are just wonderful in a mini-crisis situation. They got the tempo spot on. It's not a case of just going in your shell. You still have to play your shots and both of them did that."

Pant suffered his injury at 37 in the first innings but added a valuable 17 when he returned on the second day.

"They had to deliver but they had to play the way they did" - Ravi Shastri on Gill-Rahul partnership

Former Indian head coach Ravi Shastri hailed Shubman Gill and KL Rahul for maintaining an excellent tempo in their partnership despite India's dire situation. The duo have been in outstanding form throughout the series, with 697 and 509 runs, respectively.

Talking about the pair on the same Sky Sports panel, Shastri said:

"They had to deliver but they had to play the way they did. If they had just gone into a shell and decided to block everything, that was trouble. So they had to get some fluency going, get their feet moving and what was good to see was the shot selection." "They played straight and cut off all the high-risk shots and took it one ball at a time. I liked the communication between each other. They are both similar players and complemented each other well. They went into the shell a little bit after tea but immediately shifted gears after that," he added (via the aforementioned source).

Both batters are inching towards their centuries, with Rahul batting on 87* and Gill on 78*. A final day draw will help India stay alive in the series, heading into the final Test at the Oval.

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Edited by Venkatesh Ravichandran