Rishabh Pant played in his own aggressive style during the first India vs England Test at Headingley as he went past MS Dhoni to become the first Indian wicketkeeper-batter with seven Test centuries. Pant, who completed 3,000 runs during this innings of 134 off 178 balls (12x4s; 6x6s), also has 15 fifties in 44 Tests and averages nearly 44. Pant struck a six off the first ball of the 100th over of India’s first innings, clearing the fence off Shoaib Bashir to bring up the milestone. It was his first century since September 2024, when he scored 109 against Bangladesh. In 90 Tests, Dhoni had scored 4,876 runs with six tons and 33 fifties at an average of 38.09 and remains the highest run-scorer as an Indian wicketkeeper-batter in Tests.
Pant finally fell on 134 as he was trapped in front of the wicket by Josh Tongue.
Ex-India star Dinesh Karthik, commentating on Sky Sports, wondered whether a message from Indian cricket team head coach Gautam Gambhir had a role to play in Pant’s dismissal. He even hinted that Pant may have been told to change his batting style.
“Also very interesting, when a message was sent out to Rishabh Pant, it curbed his style of play. He was just very carefree with his stroke making, and yet the feeling that a message was sent to tell him to calm down doesn’t work for certain players, I guess,” said Dinesh Karthik on air.
“As a coach, it’s completely understandable when you want to get a message across to the batter. But over time, you realise, for certain players, how you send that message becomes very important, what is the tone, what is the language used that gets the best out of the batter.”
Dinesh Karthik added Gambhir should be aware that he needs to handle Rishabh Pant in a different way to get the best out of him.
“Maybe with Rishabh Pant, it needs to be a different way in which you get things done,” said Karthik.
Meanwhile, former England cricketer Stuart Broad also hailed Indian wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant’s century at Leeds against England in the first Test, saying that “everything was going on” during his innings from “falling scoops” to “run-out chances”.
Pant’s scored a record-breaking and entertaining seventh Test century that had it all, be it his trademark audacity, him falling on the ground after a shot or the bat slipping out of his hands.
Broad said that the England crowd is really great at appreciating good cricket and the reception that Pant got was “one of the loudest I have heard for an opposition player scoring a hundred in England”.
“It was really well appreciated, because it was so entertaining. We didn’t know what was coming! There were those falling scoops, full-blooded shots, run-out chances… everything was going on. Everything you want as a Test match fan — patience, leaving, then, a flair shot, putting the bowlers under pressure. The crowd really appreciated everything Rishabh Pant did. Box office – truly a box office innings,” he added.
With ANI inputs
