'Bravery is one thing, but the team must take care of Pant': Surinder Khanna

New Delhi, July 25 Amid the praise of bravery and courage for Rishabh Pant's act to come out to bat again after severely hurting his right foot, former India cricketer Surinder Khanna had a distinct view and felt the team should have guided the wicketkeeper-batter to take care of himself after a severe injury.

Pant, who was retired hurt on 37 after being hit on the right toe by Chris Woakes in the final session of the opening day, came out to bat again despite the reports of a fracture on his right foot.

When Pant walked out to bat again at Old Trafford on Thursday, the crowd gave him a rousing welcome and former cricketers also hailed his courageous act of putting his body on the line for the team.

"At the moment, it was brave - the way he played that reverse sweep and the ball struck his toe. Now, what the medical reports say is all speculation. The fact that he came out to bat after that was very brave. After his car accident, the issues he’d faced should be monitored closely by the medical team to ensure it doesn’t turn into a career-threatening injury. It’s good to be brave, but at the same time, for longevity, it’s important to be careful," Khanna told IANS on Friday.

The veteran cricketer remarked that Rishabh Pant should have been rested following the blow to his finger during the Lord's Test, and suggested that Dhruv Jurel - who is currently handling wicketkeeping duties at Old Trafford due to Pant's foot injury - should have replaced him earlier.

"And on this tour, this is the second successive time Jurel is doing the wicketkeeping duties. If he's so competent, he should have been played, and Pant should've been given rest. In the previous match too, when Pant injured his finger, it was Jurel who kept wickets. This is turning into a mockery. Either you send Pant to bat at No. 10 or 11... He was playing alongside Washington Sundar.

"If I talk about cricket — if I’m out there batting and I want to take a quick single, he (Pant) wouldn’t be able to make it. Even sending Pant to bat at No. 11 would have been a brave move. Bravery is one thing, but the team must take care of him. Courage is fine from his side, but not to the extent that it ends up damaging his foot. If that happens, his movement will be restricted, and recovery takes a long time," Khanna explained.

The former wicketkeeper-batter further criticised the medical team's approach for not guiding Pant properly in the current situation and called it "foolish".

"You're playing for the country, and that's absolutely fine—but in this situation, when you came out to bat, it didn’t really benefit the team much. You were on 37-38 and made it to 50 - that goes into your personal record... Sometimes, being brave can actually be foolish. It shouldn't reach a point where you miss the next match or are out for 2-4 months...

"You’re playing for India, not in the IPL, where people might assume you’re doing it for money... It’s not like the team went on to post a score of 400-450 either... Our medical team needs to be good enough to guide the player properly in such situations," Khanna said.

Pant's 54 guided India to 358, just adding 17 runs to his total after returning to bat again with an injured foot. In response, half-centuries from Ben Duckett and Zak Crawley guided England to 225/2 in 46 overs at stumps, trailing India by 133 runs.

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