For a cricketer who survived a near-fatal car accident, giving up is not in Rishabh Pant’s dictionary. The India vice-captain did not give up either on Thursday despite a serious injury on his right foot on the first day of the ongoing fourth Test against England in Manchester.

Having recovered from a finger injury from Lord’s during the third Test, Pant took a painful blow on Wednesday when he missed the line of Chris Woakes toe-crusher while attempting a reverse sweep. The 27-year-old immediately went down, grimacing in pain and sent for scans.

While everyone thought the worse, Pant showed tremendous grit and determination as he walked out after the dismissal of Shardul Thakur for 41 amidst a massive cheer from the Manchester crowd, who gave a standing ovation to the Indian for his courage.

The classy reception was given by the Old Trafford crowd, which was posted by the official X handle of England Cricket and the BCCI. But the highlight of Pant‘s stay at the crease came when England skipper Ben Stokes’ unreserved praise was captured by the camera.

During one of the Stokes’ overs, the Indian southpaw took a single limping with the England captain’s eyes fixed on Pant’s injured foot. He couldn’t hold himself before appreciating his opposition.

Rishabh Pant braves pain for 54 off 75 balls

Meanwhile, Pant’s fighting fifty helped India finish their first innings at 358. The injured Pant, who retired hurt on 37, braved pain to make 54 off 75 balls even as Stokes finished with excellent figures of 5/72.

Running between the wickets was difficult, but Pant, effectively on one leg, pulled out the big shots, slogging Jofra Archer for six before moving past fifty, his 19th in Test cricket, with another boundary.

Resuming on 264/4, India were dealt an early blow as Ravindra Jadeja edged a Archer outswinger to Harry Brook at second slip in only the day’s second over. Shardul Thakur (41) and Washington Sundar (27) then added 48 runs for the sixth wicket.