Rishabh Pant's injury mars India's steady start to Manchester Test

The flamboyant wicketkeeper-batter left the field in a vehicle, visibly suffering from pain minutes after he took a wild risk of reverse sweeping Chris Woakes while batting at 37 off 48 balls.

India's tragic hero from the Lord's Test Ravindra Jadeja, who replaced retired hurt Pant, remained unbeaten along with allrounder Shardul Thakur at 19 each when India scored 264-4 at closing after being put into bat by the hosts in the morning.

Sai Sudharsan, who returned to the squad replacing Karun Nair, topped the scorecard slamming his maiden Test fifty but the southpaw walked back to the pavilion scoring 61 after being provoked by Ben Stokes' short ball.

"He was in a lot of pain, definitely. But he has gone for scans. We'll get to know overnight," said Sudharsan on Pant's injury, which is being monitored by the BCCI Medical Team.

Yashasvi Jaiswal (58) and KL Rahul (46) helped India respond strongly to England's invitation to bat first but both the openers failed to capitalise on their solid individual starts.

Stokes, who picked two wickets for 47 runs, dismissed India captain Shubman Gill LBW in a big relief for the hosts.

England are 2-1 ahead of India in the five-match Test series.