Rishabh Pant.
Credit: PTI Photo
Cricket's history is punctuated by moments where human spirit triumphs over physical agony, as was shown by Rishabh Pant yesterday when he went out to bat with a visible injury. Here are five such instances of players who stared down injury to produce performances of legendary grit.
Mohinder Amarnath vs West Indies, April 1983
On a lightning-fast Barbados pitch, Mohinder Amarnath had already compiled a masterful 91. With India facing an innings defeat, he was batting on 18 when a deceptive Malcolm Marshall bouncer smashed into his mouth. Although he retired hurt, seeing India collapse to 139 for five, the legendary batter resumed batting. He proceeded to bat for more than two hours, crafting a magnificent 80 in a display of defiance. In a rare cricketing outcome, although India suffered a 10-wicket loss, it was Amarnath who was declared Man of the Match.
Anil Kumble vs West Indies, May 2002
On what was otherwise a featherbed pitch in Antigua, a single Mervyn Dillon bouncer spat venom at Anil Kumble. Batting at No. 7, he spat out blood but carried on for another 20 minutes before discovering his jaw was broken. With surgery scheduled and a flight back to Bengaluru booked, Kumble's next act was not to retreat, but to emerge with a bandaged jaw and bowl 14 straight overs, trapping the legendary Brian Lara leg before. "I didn’t want to sit around," he would later explain with characteristic understatement.
VVS Laxman vs Australia, October 2010
Struggling with acute back spasms that left him barely able to walk, VVS Laxman had batted at No. 10 in the first innings for just 2. But in the second, with India needing 216 on a tricky Mohali pitch and in disarray at 76 for five, he walked out at No. 7. That soon became 124 for eight. Unable to run or move his feet with his usual dexterity, Laxman masterfully marshalled the strike, even losing his temper with tailender Pragyan Ojha in the tense final moments, as he guided India to a famous one-wicket win.
Hanuma Vihari vs Australia, January 2021
Set an improbable 407 to win in Sydney, India were staring at defeat after being reduced to 277 for five when Hanuma Vihari was joined by R Ashwin, who was himself battling acute back spasms. Soon after, Vihari suffered a hamstring tear—an injury that typically sidelines a player for weeks. With more than 40 overs to play, he grinded out on for another 2.5 hours, facing 161 deliveries in total for his unbeaten 23, stonewalling the Australian attack to secure a historic draw. India won the next Test at Brisbane to clinch a comeback series win Down Under.
Rishabh Pant vs England, July 2025
Rishabh Pant’s audacious fifty with a fractured foot on day two of the fourth Test at Old Trafford showed not just courage, but also proved that he is the "ultimate team man", felt former India coach Ravi Shastri, as the cricket fraternity showered praise on the gutsy wicketkeeper-batter.
Pant’s return to top-flight cricket after a horrific car accident in December 2022 was already remarkable, but he took his daring streak to another level by completing a half-century with a broken foot on Thursday after retiring hurt on 37 the previous day.
“If anyone doubted he was ever a team man, they got to see it first-hand today. That requires more than just steel,” Shastri said in a video posted by the the Board of Control for Cricket in India on its website.
With PTI inputs