ENG vs IND 2025: England are afraid of Rishabh Pant's batting, reckons Sanjay Manjrekar

Team India cricketer Rishabh Pant has been in great form with the bat in the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy 2025 against England. Pant has played all the three games so far, scoring an impressive 425 runs at an average of 70.83, while also scoring a couple of centuries and as many half-centuries. He has fast become the backbone of the Indian middle-order batting unit, despite his unorthodox stroke play, which involves risks, but Pant has been largely successful with this approach of his.

Former cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar also feels that Pant should always feel the amount of freedom, and it is the responsibility of the team management to remain confident of the way he plays. If the batting unit has to outclass the opposition bowlers, Pant deserves to lead the charge when he arrives at the crease. Manjrekar also said that the Englishmen are intimidated whenever the Southpaw bats against them.

“Rishabh Pant will play in his way no matter what the situation is. He should get that licence because he deserves it. The batting unit has to function well. Jaiswal must think a bit about how he got out. He should make use of his form. Pant, I feel, is a big player at No.5. He is a batter who England fear,” he said via Star Sports ahead of the fourth Test.

Gill's role in the team is important: Manjrekar

The upcoming fourth game of the five-match series will be played in Manchester, and Manjrekar reckoned that Shubman Gill definitely is the most important batter and plays a big role with the bat. However, he failed to get going in the previous game, where other batters stepped up, and the star batter's contributions were not largely missed. He also expects the Indian captain to be back among runs come the Old Trafford encounter.

“Shubman Gill’s role is important. But India should also look that there was no contribution from Gill in the batting at Lord’s and despite that the batting line-up was challenging. That is a good takeaway that we are not completely dependent on Gill,” the cricketer-turned-commentator said.

“I feel he has the ability to carry form. Maybe there will be some introspection in this gap. He should look at whether the altercation was necessary or should he just focus on captaincy. If he does that, then his run-making machine will run again at Old Trafford,” Manjrekar concluded.

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The Ben Stokes-led side is currently 1-2 up in the series, and the game in Manchester will be a do-or-die encounter for the visiting Indian side. While a win for India will draw the series, losing will kick them out of the race, and mark a bad start to their World Test Championship 2025-27 cycle.