Rishabh Pant‘s extraordinary batting display in the opening Test against England at Headingley has sparked widespread admiration from some of England’s most respected former cricketers. Rishabh Pant’s centuries in both innings were the highlight of India’s performance despite a five-wicket defeat, and his fearless approach won over even those watching from the other side of the fence.
Rishabh Pant’s swashbuckling style may not be the textbook technique of great Indian batsman of old, but the diminutive wicketkeeper wrote his name into the history books at Headingley on Monday. The 27-year-old Rishabh Pant became the first Indian to score hundreds in both innings of a Test against England to give his side the edge heading into a fascinating final day of the first of a five-match series
Rishabh Pant became the first-ever Indian wicketkeeper to hit twin centuries in a Test by following his 134 in the first innings with a 140-ball 118 in the second on Monday (June 23) at Headingley. After celebrating the first with a somersault — that made him even popular among the hosts — he offered a muted expression for the second. With this innings and 8th century in his glorious red ball career Rishabh Pant entered into the record books acheiving many new heights in the game of cricket.
Rishabh Pant etched his name in the history with the record breaking ton
Rishabh Pant smashed his second hundred of the Leeds Test on Monday at Headingley. After scoring a brilliant 134 in the first innings, Rishabh Pant delivered again when India needed him most in the second innings. With India struggling at 92 for 3, he forged a 195-run partnership with KL Rahul – who scored 137 – en route to his 118, studded with 15 fours and 3 sixes. His and Rahul’s significant hundreds propelled India to set a strong 371-run target for England.
With his second hundred in the Leeds Test, Rishabh Pant became the first Indian to score a ton in both innings of a Test in England. By achieving the feat, he has joined an elite list of Indian cricketers, including Vijay Hazare, Sunil Gavaskar (who achieved the feat three times), Rahul Dravid (twice), Virat Kohli, Ajinkya Rahane, and Rohit Sharma.
Rishabh Pant now has four hundreds in England, including his 114 at The Oval in 2018 and 146 at Edgbaston in 2022. These four centuries have seen him equal legendary batters Sachin Tendulkar and Dilip Vengsarkar’s record. Both of them have scored four centuries in England. Pant is now only behind Rahul Dravid, who hit six hundreds in England. With four more Tests to go on India’s tour of England, Pant will be very much in contention to surpass Dravid’s feat and become the Indian record-holder.
The southpaw’s two hundreds in the Leeds Test also made him only the second designated wicketkeeper-batter to score tons in both innings of a Test after Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower. Rishabh Pant’s match aggregate of 252 runs is also the highest by an Indian wicketkeeper in a Test, breaking Budhi Kunderan’s record of 230 against England in Chennai in 1964.
Rishabh Pant’s tally is also the fourth-highest match aggregate by any wicketkeeper in Test cricket, with only Flower ahead of him.Rishabh Pant also joined an elite list of visiting cricketers with five successive fifty-plus scores in England, placing him alongside Don Bradman, Hansie Cronje, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Kumar Sangakkara, and Daryl Mitchell. Only Steve Smith has more, with seven.
Four Indian batters – Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shubman Gill, KL Rahul, and Pant – scored centuries at Headingley, which is a historic feat for India, as five centuries, including two by Rishabh Pant, were scored. Awestruck with his batting genius and maverick innings English commentator Michael Vaughan has heaped lavish praises on Rishabh Pant’s pyrotechnics with the bat.
Michael Vaughan heaps praise of Rishabh Pant’s heroic performance
Former England captain Micheal Vaughan believes even skipper Ben Stokes was silently admiring Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant’s incredible batting in the first Test at Leeds. The 27-year-old scored brilliant centuries in both innings despite India’s five-wicket defeat.
Rishabh Pant became only the second designated wicketkeeper in history to score centuries in both innings of a Test after former Zimbabwean Andy Flower. With his first innings ton, the left-hander also became India’s all-time leader in centuries among wicketkeepers, overtaking MS Dhoni.
Talking about Pant’s batting on the Stick to Cricket show, Vaughan said (via Indian Express):
“There’s a lot of science in that madness the way that he plays. You can see even Ben Stokes is admiring when he’s batting. Adam Gilchrist for me is the best wicketkeeper-batter. But Pant just set a new trend. I mean MS Dhoni, across white ball cricket, was fantastic. You would think with the way that he plays, Pant would be completely suited to the white ball game and not so much the Test game, But his Test record is miles better than his white ball record.”
Rishabh Pant boasts an excellent Test record with 3,200 runs in 44 outings at an average of 44.44, including eight centuries. He was one of four centurions for the visitors in the Leeds Test. Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul and Shubman Gill were the others.
Another former England captain, Alastair Cook, believes Rishabh Pant has high competitive drive despite often being jovial on the field with the bat and behind the stumps. The southpaw smashed an incredible nine maximums in the Leeds Test, including one to reach his century in the first innings.
Talking about Pant on the same show, Cook said:
“That smile doesn’t mean he doesn’t like (to win). Or that he’s not the most competitive (player). You don’t score two centuries and not really want to. He could have tossed (been casual in the second innings) and said I’ve scored a hundred in the first innings. But he didn’t.” (via the aforementioned source).
Rishabh Pant now has a remarkable four Test centuries in England and six in SENA countries, with one each in Australia and South Africa. Meanwhile, India will look to even up the five-match series at one apiece in the second Test at Edgbaston, starting July 2 and Rishabh Pant in terrific form would be an exciting player to watch out.
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