IND vs ENG: Rishabh Pant continued his rich vein of form in red-ball cricket, stealing the show on Day 4 of the first Test between India and England at Headingley by scoring a 130-ball century. The wicketkeeper-batter had scored 134 runs in the first innings and became only the second wicketkeeper to score back-to-back Test hundreds.
Pant’s entertaining innings are usually followed by a similarly maverick celebration, as fans saw during the first innings where the batter pulled out an audacious somersault after reaching his hundred.
Sunil Gavaskar, watching the Day 4 action from the Headingley stands, was caught on camera requesting the batter for another ‘flip’ celebration after the second-innings century. However, this time, the celebration was relatively muted, with the batter opting to cover one of his eyes and lifting his hand.
However, Pant’s fiery innings was not long-lived, as Shoaib Bashir dismissed him at 118, bringing a fine knock to an end, with India at 287/4.
Pant-Gavaskar Relationship
Rishabh Pant and Sunil Gavaskar have a storied relationship off the pitch. Just six months ago, during the fourth Test match between India and Australia, the former Indian captain called Pant’s scooping dismissal to Scott Boland ‘’.
However, there was clearly no animosity between the pair, as they used that tagline to appear in a commercial together as well. Pant, though, seems to have shed that tag, as Gavaskar himself termed the former’s century against England ‘superb, superb, superb’.
“Yes, superb, superb, superb,” Gavaskar said in the commentary box. “Absolutely terrific batting by the young man.”
Pant Backed By Deep Dasgupta
Rishabh Pant’s innings has also drawn high praise from former cricketer-turned-analyst Deep Dasgupta, who compared the batter to Cheteshwar Pujara. Speaking on JioHotstar’s ‘Match Centre Live’, Dasgupta spoke about the change of tactics in Pant’s game in response to the conditions at Leeds.
“Pant came in looking to counterattack, but he quickly realised it is not that kind of surface at the moment, and the bowlers were disciplined. This is the new, matured Rishabh Pant we are seeing,” Dasgupta said.
“The first phase of Pant’s innings was entertaining… But he wasn’t quite convincing in the way he did it. Then he decided to switch gears completely,” he added. “He can bat like Pujara for an hour or two.”
