Rishabh Pant had a series to remember against England, as he was in top form with the bat. This series will also be remembered for Pant’s lionheart act during the fourth Test at Manchester.
After fracturing his toe in the first Test of the innings and getting retired hurt, he came back to bat when India were in a tricky spot, and smashed a half-century. This act inspired his teammates so much, that even Karun Nair ignored a major injury to continue batting during the crucial final Test at The Oval.
Karun Nair suffered an injury to his hand while playing a short delivery, and fractured it. Despite this, he continued batting. In an interaction with Revsportz, he credited Rishabh Pant for inspiring him to play despite the pain.
“During the series, I think Rishabh has set a very high standard of what we are supposed to be doing as players. In the 4th Test, he went out to bat with a broken foot and scored a fifty. He inspired so many of us in the dressing room and showed the kind of player and person he is by putting the team first. So, it struck me in a way that it did something to me, and thus it became really easy for me to decide what to do for the team,” Nair said.
Karun Nair Credits Gautam Gambhir
Karun Nair also credited head coach Gautam Gambhir for the advice he gave him during the series against England, despite him not getting that many runs across the five games.
“The only thing in my head was what Gauti bhai (Gautam Gambhir) had kept telling me earlier, that ‘it doesn’t matter how many runs you score, It’s about the partnerships that you can create, and at the end of the day, those partnerships are going to take us to a win on a tricky wicket’. So, It’s not about individual scores and I was just out there looking to do my best and score as many runs as I can, and more importantly, create those partnerships playing in those difficult periods,” the 33-year-old batter added.