Rishabh Pant has been the center of attention ever since he made his debut for India. The gifted wicketkeeper-batter has driven India to victory in tough conditions and have also been on the other side as witnessed in the recently-concluded Indian Premier League (IPL) or the last Border-Gavaskar Trophy. In fact, Pant was blasted by Indian icon Sunil Gavaskar during the tour Down Under, which went viral on social media.
The moment took place after the southpaw was dismissed for 28 during a Test against Australia due to bad shot selection. A furious Gavaskar had then remarked: “Stupid! Stupid! Stupid! He should not be going into that (India’s) dressing room - he should be going into the other dressing room.”
India are now involved in a brand new cycle of World Test Championship (WTC) and currently engaged in the first out of the five Tests against England at Headingley, Leeds. And Rishabh Pant has so far done a splendid job, which seems to have changed Gavaskar's mind regarding the swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batter. Pant returned unbeaten on 65(102) at Stumps on Day 1, and displayed both aggression and maturity during his stay in the middle. He started off by charging down the track against Ben Stokes in the second ball of his innings, sending the ball for a boundary straight down the ground. However, he displayed cautiousness against Shoaib Bashir, scoring just 16 off his next 44 balls.
Gavaskar was clearly impressed with his approach. Speaking on Sony Sports, he noted: “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 that 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.
“Because he gives himself that time early on, it becomes easier for him to play those aggressive strokes later. When he defends, he seems to have so much time against the pace bowlers — it almost looks like he's taking the mickey out of them, saying, 'Look, I've got all the time in the world; I don't need to play a big shot, I'm just middling the ball.' He’s got enormous talent. I’ve seen him score hundreds in South Africa and Australia, and they've been absolutely unbelievable. There’s such a great blend of defence and attack — starting with solid defence and then shifting to attack,” he added.
India reached 359/3 at Stumps on Day 1, and Pant and Shubman Gill have resumed action on Day 2 from where they left. In fact, Pant slammed his seventh Test century, while Gill scored 147(227). Together the duo added 209 runs for the fourth wicket and helped India cross 400.
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