MANCHESTER, England – India’s legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar has lauded wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant‘s indomitable will power, after the latter’s courageous return to bat on Day 2 of the fourth Test of the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 at Old Trafford in Manchester.
Pant, who sustained a fractured toe on Day 1 after inside-edging a reverse sweep onto his foot, hobbled out to bat after the dismissal of Shardul Thakur for 41. The Manchester crowd rose to its feet, erupting in a massive cheer to acknowledge his brave effort. Despite the visible discomfort and limping, Pant went on to smash a vital 54 runs off just 75 balls, an innings laced with three boundaries and two maximums.
Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Tendulkar expressed his admiration: “Resilience is about playing through pain and rising above it. @RishabhPant17 showed tremendous character by walking back into the game with an injury and delivering a performance like that. His fifty is a powerful reminder of the grit and determination it takes to represent your country. A brave effort, and one that will be remembered for a long time. Well played, Rishabh!”
Former India all-rounder Yuvraj Singh also took to Instagram to praise India’s vice-captain. “True spirit shows up when the spirit is indomitable! Injury can shake the body but not the mind, goodstuff @rishabhpant,” Yuvraj wrote.
Pant’s valiant knock not only won hearts but also helped him achieve significant personal milestones. He equalled legendary Virender Sehwag’s record for the most sixes by an Indian in Test cricket, with both now having 90 sixes to their name in the longest format. While Sehwag achieved this in 103 Tests, Pant reached the milestone in just his 47th Test, highlighting his aggressive approach. India captain Rohit Sharma follows closely behind with 88 sixes, while MS Dhoni has 78 and Ravindra Jadeja sits fifth on the list with 74 sixes.
Pant further distinguished himself by surpassing Rohit Sharma to emerge as India’s top run-scorer in the World Test Championship (WTC) era. The southpaw now boasts 2731 runs from just 38 Test matches, which includes six centuries and sixteen fifties. Rohit, who retired from Tests before the England tour, had a tally of 2719 WTC runs. This achievement is particularly special given Pant’s return to bat despite his painful toe injury.
With this fifty in Manchester, Pant now has 14 fifty-plus scores as a wicketkeeper-batter in Tests, surpassing MS Dhoni’s 13. His Test career currently includes six hundreds and eight fifties.
The BCCI has confirmed that due to the fractured toe, Rishabh Pant will not be performing wicket-keeping duties for the remainder of this match and has been ruled out of the entire Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy series, requiring six weeks of rest. Dhruv Jurel has taken over the gloves for the Indian team.