The injury occurred on Day 2 of the Manchester Test when Pant was struck on the foot while attempting a scoop shot off a delivery from Chris Woakes. He was later taken off the field, and the diagnosis of a fracture was confirmed that evening. Pant is expected to be out of action for a minimum of six weeks.
Despite the severity of the injury, Pant made a surprise return to the crease the next day and courageously reached his half-century before being dismissed. He did not bat in the second innings, as KL Rahul and the Indian middle order held firm to secure a gritty draw.
India head coach Gautam Gambhir praised Pant’s determination and grit following the drawn Test.
“One thing I want to say is that the character and the foundation of this team will be built on what Rishabh did for the team and for the country as well. Any amount of praise is not enough for him, especially batting with a broken foot. Not many people have done that in the past. And he had put his hand up, and that is why I say any amount of praise — I can sit here and talk about this for hours and hours. I think the generations to come forward will talk about this.
"It's unfortunate because of the kind of form he was in. But again, he's an important member of the Test side. And I hope he recovers quickly and comes back quickly," Gambhir added.
India’s squad for the fifth Test: Shubman Gill (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Kuldeep Yadav, Anshul Kamboj, Arshdeep Singh, N Jagadeesan (WK).
