With the India vs England series spicing up, the visitors, India have found themselves in a tough spot. India, who are trailing the series 2-1, faced a heartbreaking loss at the Home of Cricket, Lord's.
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Chasing 193, the Indian batting crumbled on the final day, losing the game by 22 runs. Apart from the loss itself, India faced yet another major concern when their wicket-keeper Rishabh Pant suffered an injury blow to his right index finger while keeping in the first innings.
While Pant's inclusion in the 4th Test at Manchester was questionable, now a video of Dhruv Jurel by ESPNcricinfo has surfaced on the internet. He is seen having wicket-keeping drills which has further intensified the concerns.
Is Rishabh Pant going to miss the Manchester Test?
Pant has been crucial to India's success lately, especially in the red-ball format. The Indian vice-captain has continued his good form, scoring 425 runs in 6 innings at an average of nearly 71. He is the second-highest run-getter in this series, right after Shubman Gill.
Pant, unfortunately, injured his right index finger during the second Test. The incident happened during England's first innings, when a ball from Jasprit Bumrah hit Pant's finger and he had to leave the field with a lot of pain and agony.
Pant did not keep wickets for the remaining parts of the game, with Jurel replacing him behind the wickets. He, however, came out to bat and scored some crucial runs for India in the first innings.
Dhruv Jurel gets some keeping work in ahead of Manchester - will he be the designated (wk) with Pant as a pure bat? 🤔
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) July 19, 2025
Read more: https://t.co/ZnEDLd9b9X | #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/BKWfWZ4VTf
Now, as questions loom over his availability for the Manchester Test, a video of Dhruv Jurel, where he is seen having wicket-keeping drills, has sparked the debate, indicating the possibilities of India without their vice-captain and the biggest match-winner for a do-or-die Test in Manchester.
Meanwhile, India has started their preparations for the 4th Test, which is scheduled to start from July 23rd. Trailing 2-1 in the series, Manchester awaits a very difficult challenge for the visitors who have never won a Test at the venue.
Pant's absence could make things worse for the visitors, who heavily rely on the wicket-keeping batter to win games from any situation.