Team India coach provides big update on Rishabh Pant's injury ahead of ENG vs IND 2025 4th Test

Team India's wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant sustained a finger injury during the side's 22-run defeat to England at Lord's, London, in the third Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. India's assistant coach, Ryan ten Doeschate, confirmed that the 27-year-old didn't participate in the practice session in Beckenham on Thursday, July 17.

Ten Doeschate seemed hopeful that Pant would regain full fitness ahead of India's must-win fourth Test. He remarked that the southpaw will resume his batting practice in Manchester.

He also stressed that Pant being fit to keep wickets will be key, as India wouldn't want to replace him with a substitute keeper again. Ten Doeschate's comments came in a press conference ahead of the fourth Test. He said:

"He will bat in Manchester before the Test. I don't think you want to keep Rishabh out of the Test, no matter what. He batted with quite a lot of pain in the third Test and it's only going to get easier and easier on his finger. Keeping is obviously the last part of the process to make sure he can keep. We don't want to go through that again, where we have to replace the keeper halfway through an innings. He rested today, hopefully, he is good to go in Manchester." "He (Dhruv Jurel) is in the equation, but obviously, if Rishabh is fit, he plays the next Test," he added.

Pant hurt the index finger of his left hand while wicketkeeping in England's first innings of the recently concluded Lord's Test. He walked out of the field following the injury, and substitute Dhruv Jurel took over the keeping duties.

Despite the injury, he did a commendable job with the bat, playing an impactful 74-run knock in India's first innings. Meanwhile, England secured a thrilling 22-run win in the clash to take a 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

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"The guys have been excellent for a large part of the series" - Ryan ten Doeschate on Team India's batting in ENG vs IND 2025 series

Ryan ten Doeschate also commented on the visiting team's batting performance in the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy. He admitted that batting collapses were the main reasons behind their defeats in Headingley and Lord's.

He, however, suggested that most of the Indian batters have looked in good touch. Ten Doeschate said:

"We feel like the guys have been excellent for a large part of the series. The repetition of losing lots of wickets in a very short space of time has been the key feature of the two losses. "If you look at the run tally of all the batters, they are all batting nicely. Even someone like Karun, his rhythm and tempo are good. We want more runs from the three, but the message is mainly let's really focus on what we have done well and tidy up the little things that have cost us results."

The fourth Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy kicks off at Old Trafford, Manchester, on Wednesday, July 23.

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Edited by Aditya Suketu Desai