England vs India: Pant likely to feature in third Test
Virat Kohli-led India might play Rishabh Pant in the third Test against England, at Nottingham, starting today. Several pundits wanted Kohli to give the youngster Pant a spot in Playing XI, as Dinesh Karthik didn't contribute much with the bat in the first two Tests. But now reports claim that an injury might force DK to sit out of the third Test.
Reports claim that DK has injured his finger
Things couldn't have gone worse for the senior wicket-keeper batsman. He has managed just 21 runs in two Tests and now as per reports, DK has hurt his finger and could be forced to make way for Pant. DK's injury sees him join the long list of injured cricketers, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Wriddhiman Saha. However, Jasprit Bumrah is set to make a return.
Where will Pant feature?
Pant would most likely come in DK's position at number 6 in the middle-order. Given he is a top-order specialist, India might also be tempted to get him open with KL Rahul. This could see Karun Nair come in the middle-order and replace opener Murali Vijay. Pant has been in tremendous form and impressed for India A in their England tour earlier.
India's likely XI for third Test
India's likely XI for the 3rd Test: 1) KL Rahul 2) Shikhar Dhawan , 3) Cheteshwar Pujara 4) Virat Kohli (captain), 5) Ajinkya Rahane, 6) Rishabh Pant (wicket-keeper) 7) Hardik Pandya, 8) R Ashwin, 9) Ishant Sharma, 10) Mohammed Shami, 11) Jasprit Bumrah.
