"Resilience is about playing through pain": Tendulkar lauds Pant's will power to bat despite toe injury

New Delhi [India], July 25 (ANI): India's legendary batter Sachin Tendulkar hailed wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant's will power as he came out to bat on the second day of the fourth Test of the ongoing five-match Test series of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 at Old Trafford in Manchester.

Pant walked out to bat after the dismissal of Shardul Thakur for 41; the Manchester crowd rose to their feet and erupted in a massive cheer.

Pant smashed 54 runs off 75 balls, laced with three boundaries and two maximums.

Taking to X, Tendulkar wrote, "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 and praised 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 on Instagram.

Rishabh Pant continued to break records and win hearts, this time, with the bat in hand, even while limping.

The wicket-keeper-batter matched the legendary Virender Sehwag's record for the most sixes by an Indian in Test cricket. Both now have 90 sixes to their name in the longest format.

Pant, known for his fearless strokeplay, is now tied at the top with Sehwag, while India captain Rohit Sharma follows closely behind with 88 sixes. MS Dhoni has 78, and Ravindra Jadeja sits fifth on the list with 74 sixes.

If that wasn't enough, Pant also leapfrogged Rohit Sharma to become India's leading run-scorer in the World Test Championship (WTC) era. The southpaw now has 2731 runs from just 38 Test matches, which includes six centuries and sixteen fifties. Rohit, on the other hand, has 2719 WTC runs.

What makes Pant's achievement even more special is the context; he returned to bat on Thursday despite suffering a painful toe injury on Day 1 and still made a solid impact.

After Pant's fifty in Manchester in the fourth Test, now he has 14 fifty-plus scores, while Dhoni has thirteen fifties. The left-hander has six hundreds and eight fifties. (ANI)

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