Pant to keep wickets for India as England lose Crawley ahead of series opener

CHENNAI: Rishabh Pant’s batting heroics in Australia were rewarded on Thursday when skipper Virat Kohli confirmed the 23-year-old will keep wicket in the opening Test against England in Chennai, beginning on Friday.

India have been torn between Pant and Wriddhiman Saha, who is widely considered the better keeper but was dropped after managing only 13 runs in the opening Test against Australia in Adelaide in December.

Replacing him behind the stumps, Pant produced spectacular fourth innings knocks of 97 and 89 not out in Sydney and Brisbane to help India pull off an epic 2-1 series triumph last month.

“Pant has had impact performances in Australia recently, and he’s in a good space,” Kohli told a video conference ahead of the series-opener at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.

“We want him to build on this, along with him improving all aspects of his game, which will happen with more game-time and more confidence he gains playing those games.”

India had preferred Saha at home, where his neat glovework has been particularly effective while keeping to spinners.

Pant did spill some catches in Australia, but Kohli said he “brings in a lot of value to this team, and he will continue to be backed because he’s an impact player”.

“He can definitely be a very consistent match-winner for India and someone that the opposition will definitely be wary of every time they play against India.” Kohli missed the last three Tests in Australia to attend the birth of his daughter, but was pleased to see how, under Ajinkya Rahane, India completed a stunning turnaround.

“We’ve been working for a long time to create a team identity,” said Kohli, hoping to lead India to a 13th successive Test series victory on home soil.

“Since I took over Test captaincy in 2014, we decided we’d play to win, and draw will be our last resort,” he said. “We have stuck to this, day in day out, series after series.

“Our last two series victories in Australia confirmed we’re on the right track.”

Kohli warned his team over complacency against England and said his teammates “understand (that) beautifully”.

“There is game after game, series after series which you need to reset, re-focus straight away. “

Meanwhile, England batsman Zak Crawley will miss the first two Tests of the series against India after slipping on a marble floor outside the team’s locker room and spraining his right wrist.

What England captain Joe Root described as a freak incident happened on Tuesday, and Crawley hasn’t trained since.

Scans showed a sprain and inflammation in the joint, ruling the No. 3 batsman out of the first Test and the second match also in Chennai.

England have since taken measures to ensure the same thing doesn’t happen to another player.

“It’s really frustrating for Zak and hard for him to take,” Root said. “It’s not something you first think about when you turn up to a ground, trying not to fall over.

“We initially just put some towels down and since then they’ve put something more substantial down. We know we’ve got to be careful.”

Crawley’s misfortune is likely to prove good news for Dan Lawrence, who made his Test debut in the series win in Sri Lanka last month but was expecting to drop out following the returns of Rory Burns, Ben Stokes and Ollie Pope.

Lawrence could be asked to take a turn at No. 3, leaving Root and Stokes to occupy their preferred slots at Nos. 4 and 5, with Pope coming back at No. 6 following his reco­very from a dislocated shoulder.