Leeds, June 21 Former India head coach Ravi Shastri shared his thoughts on Rishabh Pant’s entertaining knock of 134 on the second morning of the first Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at Headingley, adding that the ‘outrageous’ wicketkeeper-batter is someone who knows how he wants to play.
Resuming from 65 not out, Pant went on to hit his seventh Test century and go past former India captain M.S. Dhoni (six) for the most Test centuries hit by an Indian wicketkeeper. The flamboyant Pant’s third Test hundred in England, laced with magnificence and madness in stroke-play in equal measure, is a feat no other visiting keeper has achieved before.
"What do you say about Pant?! I used the word outrageous yesterday, and nothing has changed. He plays the numbers game beautifully and plays the way he wants. He will block for a bit and then decides he has to go after the bowler and shift gears."
"He has his own computer and only he knows how it works. That's his USP. That's what puts bowlers under pressure and makes him box office, a real entertainer and a match winner," said Shastri on Sky Sports’ broadcast during lunch break.
Pant got to the three-figure mark off 146 balls by dancing down the pitch and heaving Shoaib Bashir for a one-handed six over midwicket. Amidst applause from the crowd, Pant celebrated reaching the century with his signature somersault, a skill he picked up from undergoing gymnastics practice in his growing-up years.
Such was the impact of Pant’s astonishing knock in Leeds that legendary India batter Sunil Gavaskar called his century-reaching moment as ‘superb, superb, superb’. That moment stood in complete contrast to an angry Gavaskar saying ‘stupid, stupid, stupid’ on air for ABC Sport when Pant played a bad shot and was dismissed off Scott Boland in the Boxing Day Test against Australia at Melbourne Cricket Ground in December 2024.
Though Pant was one of the four Indian wickets to fall in the first session, yielding 95 runs, Shastri feels another hour of batting after lunch would have been more ideal for the visitors. "Clearly India would have wanted to be in a position where they could have batted for another hour, an hour and a half after lunch."
"Having said that, the run rate is like India are playing Bazball cricket, so the tempo makes it even. They have runs on the board, so they will hope it stays overcast and the ball swings. If it swings, they have the attack and the experience," he added.
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