Former opener Alastair Cook weighed in on Rishabh Pant‘s injury amid the ongoing fourth Test between England and India at Old Trafford, Manchester. Cook believes the hosts will be happy with a key opposition batter out.

On the first day of the fourth Test, Rishabh Pant injured his right foot while attempting a reverse sweep off Chris Woakes. He was in visible pain and was stretchered off the field eventually.

According to a report by The Indian Express, scans revealed that the southpaw fractured his toe and is advised to rest for six weeks. Pant was unbeaten on 37 off 48 balls when he was forcefully retired hurt.

“England will have a little smile on their face because they’ve taken out one of India’s best batsmen on this tour. It’s the nature of the beast of cricket that you sometimes can get a bit of luck,” Cook told BBC Sport.

However, Cook also added that this could prove to be a free shot for India and his absence could ignite the team more. He also believes that the visitors have a fully fit bowling attack.

“Sometimes when you’ve lost one of your best players, everyone’s thinking, well, it’s 10 against 11. Actually, it’s a bit more of a free shot. Sometimes that’s a pressure off. Well, imagine if we win this game now when everyone’s saying, well, we can’t win without Pant. That’s not bad. They’ve still got 250 runs on the board. They still can get over 350, 400 on the seat. And then they’ve got a fully fit bowling attack,” he said.

“So I do think bowlers, you miss bowlers more than you miss a batter who’s also got 40-odd as well. So he’s made some contribution. So let’s not just, it’s not over. England can’t sit there and go that. And it could really ignite this Indian side,” he added.

India ended the opening day on 264/4. The visitors are 1-2 down in the series and need to win at Manchester to draw level.

Rishabh Pant walks out to bat on Day 2 amid reports of being ruled out

Earlier on the second day, the BCCI provided an update that Rishabh Pant will not keep wickets for the remainder of the fourth Test. Dhruv Jurel will don the gloves for the rest of the game.

However, the update added that Pant would walk out to bat as per team requirements. Notably, the left-hander has indeed made his way out in the middle. As India lost the wicket of Shardul Thakur in the 102nd over of their first innings, Pant, despite having a fractured foot, returned to the crease.

He has shown his fearless and fighting spirit yet again. This comes as a huge boost for India, with the series on the line. Rishabh Pant has been in stellar form, scoring over 400 runs already in this series with two hundreds and as many half-centuries.