India had a phenomenal start to the five-match Test series against England, as Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill registered a century each on Day 1 in Headingley. The young duo dominated the headlines, but credit also goes to keeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who played a sensational knock of an unbeaten 65 runs. The 27-year-old would hope to capitalise on that on Day 2 and try to score his 7th century in Test cricket.
Meanwhile, Pant initially took some time to settle down before accelerating. He did hit a boundary off Ben Stokes in his second delivery, but soon changed the gear and became defensive. The cricketer only scored 16 runs in his next 44 balls. Towards the end of the day, Pant once again started playing aggressively and dominated the English bowlers, with six boundaries and a couple of sixes.
In the last tour to Australia, former cricketer Sunil Gavaskar expressed disappointment with how Pant went about business, but this time around, he was impressed with the approach. Analysing it, the 75-year-old noted that Pant paced his innings well and took advantage of the bowlers after they were tired.
“It seems like that’s how he plays. When he comes in to bat, on the second or third ball, he often uses his feet and hits a boundary. It makes him feel free and then allows him to play the way he wants. Over here, he's been measured in his approach—giving himself time out in the middle. But once he's in and the bowlers start to tire, that's when he begins to step down the pitch and really attack, hitting big shots, sixes, and boundaries,” said Gavaskar on Sony Sports.
Pant has already broken MS Dhoni’s record of Indian keeper-batter with the most runs in SENA countries. He can also surpass the legendary cricketer on tee list of most Test centuries by an Indian keeper-batter.