Rishabh Pant still recovering from finger injury, Jurel continues to step in on Day Two

Dubai: India continues with Dhurv Jurel behind the stumps as wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant recovers from finger injury he sustained while keeping during the second session on day one of the third Test against England at Lord’s Thursday.

“Rishabh Pant is still recovering from the hit on his left index finger. The BCCI medical team continues to monitor his progress. Dhruv Jurel will continue to keep wickets on Day 2,” BCCI posted on X ahead of Friday’s start.

Indian all-rounder Nitish Kumar Reddy had said that the team will know about the extent of their wicketkeeper-batter Pant’s finger injury by Friday morning.

Pant left the field to receive some treatment, seemingly sustaining an injury on his finger while wicketkeeping. In the meantime, Jurel has taken over the keeping duties. In the 34th over bowled by Jasprit Bumrah, Pant made a dive to pick up the ball, but could not get it cleanly in his hands, making England pick two runs off byes. Following that, he was seen in a lot of pain and had to leave the field for medical attention.

Massive blow to India

Speaking about Pant’s injury, Reddy said during the post-day presser, “To be honest, I just came out of the field and I do not know anything about it, but since I did not hear anything from anyone, we will get to know tomorrow morning before we go back.”

If Pant does end up sustaining an injury, it would be a massive blow to India, as he is one of their best Test batters, being their second-highest run-getter in the series with 342 runs in four innings at an average of 85.50, with two centuries and a fifty.

He scored twin centuries at Leeds, with a best score of 134. So far, he has broken plenty of records as a wicketkeeper-batter, especially going ahead of legend MS Dhoni for most Test centuries by a keeper-batter for India and highest run tally by an Asian wicketkeeper in South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia (SENA) nations.