India reach 321 for six at lunch as Rishabh Pant makes courageous return to middle

Manchester: Rishabh Pant remarkably came out to bat with a fractured foot while Shardul Thakur showed plenty of resolve to take India to 321 for six at lunch on day two of the fourth Test against England here on Thursday.

Resuming the day at 264 for four, India did well to cross the 300-run mark in overcast conditions that offered plenty of seam and swing to the England pacers especially Jofra Archer, who was effectively unplayable for majority of his opening spell.

England skipper Ben Stokes got the odd ball to jump from length, creating more challenges for the Indian batters.

Considering the pitch behaviour, India would be content with a first innings score of 350.

Chris Woakes took the new ball immediately but it was in following over from Archer that England got the early breakthrough.

The in-form Ravindra Jadeja (20 off 40) could not do much off an Archer beauty that shaped away after landing on the leg-stump to take the outside edge with Harry Brook holding on to a low catch at second slip.

With the ball doing all sorts of tricks, Shardul (41 off 88 balls) looked to attack and dispatched Woakes off the backfoot in the cover region for a fine boundary.

Minutes later, Shardul creamed a full ball from Stokes through the cover a ball after getting a snorter from the England captain that almost kissed his glove.

Stokes managed to get rid of the Indian bowling all-rounder eventually by luring him into a drive and getting him caught at gully by Ben Duckett, who pouched the flying ball.

Much to the shock of everyone present at the ground, Pant limped out to bat after Shardul's dismissal, and a standing ovation followed.

Despite a broken right foot, Pant made a courageous call to face the England pacers. He could barely complete his singles but the fact that he was in the centre said a lot about his grit and character.

Lunch was taken slightly ahead of the scheduled time as light rain returned to Old Trafford in fading light.