Leeds [UK], June 21 : Legendary cricketer Sachin Tendulkar, illustrious all-rounder Irfan Pathan, and former frontline offspinner Ravichandran Ashwin were "entertained" after witnessing India vice-captain Rishabh Pant's swashbuckling century during the second day of the opening Test against England at Headingley.
In his usual flamboyant style, Pant cleared the boundary rope with a one-handed maximum off Shoaib Bashir to bring up his seventh Test century in 146 deliveries and topped it up with a somersault celebration. The crowd cheered for Pant as captain Shubman Gill embraced him warmly.
"Rishabh's celebration is as entertaining as his batting. Well done Rishabh," Sachin wrote on X after Pant's rollicking century.
Pathan was impressed with Pant's boldness throughout his stay at the crease and wrote, "Apni sharto pe khelna Rishabh pant ne Nahi chora. Brilliant."
The 27-year-old southpaw's former teammate, Ashwin, wrote on X, "Rishabh pant is now commited to entertaining us. #INDvsENG."
Pant surpassed India's legendary captain MS Dhoni to become the player with the most Test centuries by an Indian wicketkeeper-batter and continued his era of dominance in South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia (SENA) conditions. Pant boasts seven centuries, outdoing Dhoni's tally of six.
This is also his fifth century in SENA conditions, the most by an Asian batter. Three of these centuries have come in England and one in Australia and South Africa.
Pant levelled former Indian skipper Sourav Ganguly's record to have the joint third-most Test centuries in England (three each). The highest number of centuries by an Indian in England is by Rahul Dravid (6), followed by Sachin Tendulkar (4) and Dilip Vengasarkar (4).
This is the fourth instance of three Indian players scoring a century in an inning outside Asia, with the trio of Pant, Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal joining the trio of Sunil Gavaskar, Kris Srikkanth and Mohinder Amarnath (Australia, 1986 at Sydney), Rahul Dravid, Virender Sehwag and Ganguly (England, 2002 at Leeds) and Sehwag, Dravid and Mohammed Kaif (West Indies, 2006, Gros Islet).
This is also the third instance of Pant reaching a Test century with a six - all three off English spinners (Adil Rashid, Joe Root, & Shoaib Bashir). For India, only Sachin Tendulkar has done it more often (six times), while Rohit Sharma also did it thrice.
Pant's blitzkrieg at Headingley was brought to an end by Josh Tongue. The Indian vice-captain was struggling with Tongue's inswing. He watched the ball land and decided to offer no shot. The ball nipped back sharply and pinned him in front of the stumps, forcing him to return with 134(178).
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