Shocking! BCCI removes top performer from squad for Oval Test, Ex-CSK star makes entry
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Rishabh Pant, the left-handed Indian wicket-keeper, has been ruled out of the fifth Test due to an injury sustained in the fourth Test at Manchester, confirmed the BCCI.
India has played four matches so far in the ongoing series against England and is trailing by a margin of 2-1. With the draw in the Manchester Test, India has ended their chances of winning the series any further; however, they would still have to manage a win in the last Test at The Oval to draw the series and share the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy with England.
For India, Rishabh Pant, the wicket-keeper batsman, has been one of the key reasons for success. Skipper Shubman Gill or KL Rahul might have scored crucial runs for the team, but whenever the team needed someone to step up in some under-pressure situations, Pant stepped up for his side.
Rishabh Pant ruled out of the 5th Test due to fractured toe, confirmed BCCI
Rishabh Pant recovered from a huge injury that ruled him out of the field for almost a year and a half after his scary accident back in 2022. However, in this second innings of his career, Pant has shown unstoppable form.
Rishabh Pant had a stunning start to the year with a record bid in the IPL auction, followed by the BCCI appointing him as the deputy of Shubman Gill in Test cricket. However, Pant has been prone to injuries, hence was likely not considered for the captaincy role.
Pant suffered a blow in the third Test as well, where he was ruled out after a finger injury while keeping against Jasprit Bumrah early in the game. Despite Pant being substituted as a wicket-keeper, he returned with the bat and scored a decent 74 runs.
In the Manchester Test, which was a decisive game for the Men in Blue, Rishabh Pant, who looked settled on 37, went on to play an audacious reverse sweep to Chris Woakes. In an attempt at the shot, he missed it, and the ball struck him on the foot.
Pant was immediately seen struggling with the blow and called in the physio, and was later carried out in a golf cart after the physios saw bleeding from the zone of injury. He did not bat any further on that day, and BCCI claimed he was ruled out for the remainder of the series.
However, when India needed him, Pant stepped in like a warrior with a fractured leg; he scored more than 17 runs and reached a first-time record of 5 50+ scores against England in England by any wicket-keeper batsman.
Former CSK star Narayan Jagadeesan named replacement
After the scans confirmed Rishabh Pant's injury to be a fracture to his foot, he was ruled out of the fifth Test, and the Indian side was immediately in search of a replacement, though they had Dhruv Jurel as a backup wicket-keeper in the squad.
Indian selectors and the BCCI were first considering Ishan Kishan, the promising wicket-keeper batsman who showed some great form with knocks in the debut county season. However, he was also reported injured.
After this, the BCCI's selection committee named Narayan Jagadeesan as the replacement for Pant. The fifth Test begins on the 31st of August at The Kennington Oval.
India's updated Squad for the Fifth Test announced by BCCI
Shubman Gill (C), Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Sai Sudharsan, Shardul Thakur, Jasprit Bumrah, Mohd. Siraj, Prasidh Krishna, Akash Deep, Abhimanyu Easwaran, Karun Nair, Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel (WK), Washington Sundar, Kuldeep Yadav, Anshul Kamboj, Arshdeep Singh, and N. Jagadeesan (WK).
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