Former Indian coach and current commentator Ravi Shastri has suggested that India should not play vice-captain Rishabh Pant in the upcoming Manchester Test unless he is fully fit to keep wickets.
India lost the Lord’s Test by 22 runs, and one of the major concerns from the match was Pant’s injury. The wicketkeeper-batter suffered a finger injury on Day One and left the field. He did not return to the field for the rest of the match except when required to bat in both innings. Dhruv Jurel took over the wicketkeeping duties during the game.
According to Shastri, Pant should not be played solely as a specialist batter. He believes that playing as a fielder without gloves might worsen the injury, as gloves offer some cushion while keeping. Without that protection, fielding could aggravate the problem—something India can’t afford.
“I don’t think he should go in as a specialist batter if he can’t keep. He’ll have to field, and if he fields, that’ll be worse. With the gloves, at least there’s some protection. Without gloves, if he gets something that stings him there, then it won’t be very good. It’ll worsen the injury,” Shastri told the ICC in a video.
On July 17, after India’s practice session, assistant coach Ryan ten Doeschate also addressed the media and gave a similar update on Pant’s situation. He emphasised the importance of ensuring Pant can keep wickets before being picked.
“Keeping is obviously the last part of the process to make sure he (Pant) can keep. We don’t want to go through that again, where we have to replace the keeper halfway through an innings,” he said.
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