Pant will bat on final day, says Sitanshu Kotak

Indian batting coach Sitanshu Kotak confirmed Rishabh Pant will bat on Day 5 of the fourth Test at Old Trafford. India, trailing by 137, ended Day 4 at 174/2 with Gill and Rahul steady. England hope Ben Stokes bowls on the final day.

HYDERABAD: Indian batting coach Sitanshu Kotak said a day five wicket would have wear and tear but it was playing fine barring the odd ball turning.

Speaking to media at the end of fourth day’s play when India finished at 174 for two, still 137 runs in arrears against England in the fourth Test at Old Trafford, Kotak said both captain Shubman Gill and KL Rahul batted with a lot of belief and determination. “It is tough when you lose two early wickets,” he said.

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“But I think at lunchtime also, they had that belief that we will take some time, see first 10-15 overs and then take it from there. So, absolutely brilliant the way they batted.” Kotak said Gill is reaping the benefits of a change in mindset,” Kotak said.

“From the Australia series to this series, I have also seen his thought process and the way he batted. It is little different than what he has done in Australia. We discussed, but I would give a lot of credit to him for deciding on that wicket, what he wants to play, when he wants to play,” he said..

“And I think he successfully played certain shots and successfully avoided playing certain shots,” said Kotak. Injured wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant will bat on day five of the fourth Test, Kotak said.

For his part, England assistant coach Marcus Trescothick said that they were hoping captain Ben Stokes to bowl on final day (he didn’t
bowl on the fourth day)

“We’re hoping so (he bowls tomorrow). He’s had quite a big workload in the last few weeks and then batting in the first innings he was getting quite a bit of cramp. We’re hoping another night’s rest and physio work overnight that he’ll be back and doing a bit tomorrow,” he said.

“The cramp he was getting yesterday, you have that little bit of worry because of what he’s been through but we’ll see what he’s like tomorrow,” said Trescothick.

“You take anybody out of a five-man attack, it creates a hole. When you’re trying to push for victory on a pitch that is quite tricky and
gets quite slow after the ball gets older, of course it’s challenging,” he said.

“It’s never great when bowlers go down or you don’t have someone available to do the work you need them to do, it’s then just up to everybody else to pick up the pieces and do the extra work. You’ll probably see Joe Root bowl more if he’s not available. Let’s wait and see. Hopefully it will all be OK tomorrow,” Trescothick said.