Injured Rishabh Pant will miss India’s fifth cricket test against England

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — India’s Rishabh Pant has been ruled out of the fifth and final test against England with a foot fracture.

India coach Gautam Gambhir confirmed the extent of Pant’s injury after his lineup salvaged a draw in the fourth test at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Pant retired hurt on Day 1 when he was taken off the field on a cart with his right foot badly swollen but he returned, limping, on Day 2 and scored a half-century.

“It’s been declared that he’s out of the series, and one thing I want to say is that the character and the foundation of this team will be built on something Rishabh did for the team and for the country as well,” Gambhir said. “Any amount of praise is not enough for him, especially batting with a broken foot.

“I think the generations to come will talk about it and the generations coming forward should talk about it.”

Pant was injured when attempting a reverse sweep off England fast bowler Chris Woakes and the ball deflected onto his right ankle and foot.

He was replaced as wicketkeeper by Dhruv Jurel for the remainder of the match.

He wasn’t required to bat in India’s second innings, with the visitors earning a draw after Shubman Gill, Ravindra Jadeja and Washington Sundar all posted centuries on the final day.

Pant’s injury raised the topic of the rules around substitutions in test cricket, but England captain Ben Stokes described the debate as “ridiculous”.

“There would just be too many loopholes for teams to be able to go through,” he said. “You pick your 11 for a game. Injuries is part of the game.”

England leads the series 2-1 going into the final test at The Oval starting Thursday.

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