With two hundreds in the Headingley Test between India and England at Leeds, Rishabh Pant's legacy continues to grow. After the legendary Andy Flower of Zimbabwe, Pant became only the second keeper-batter to score back-to-back hundreds in a Test match.
Pant did his job as India extended their lead over England to 293 before he fell for 118. He became one of just a handful of players to score four Test hundreds in England, joining the elite company of Dilip Vengsarkar and Sachin Tendulkar. Even Virat Kohli hasn’t achieved that many.
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Interestingly, Pant did not celebrate with a somersault this time. He first performed the move during IPL 2025, after scoring only his second century in the league’s history in the final game of the season for the Lucknow Super Giants. Two days ago, on Day 2 of the Headingley Test, he repeated the celebration.
Therefore, it surprised some, including the legendary Sunil Gavaskar, when Pant didn’t bust out the somersault again. The Little Master even gestured playfully from the commentary box, encouraging Pant to flip. This came just 48 hours after Gavaskar had replaced his infamous “stupid, stupid, stupid” criticism with “superb, superb, superb.”
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Pant, who was under fire for his poor performance in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy earlier this year, has already scored 252 runs in this series with four matches still remaining. To put things in perspective, he had scored 255 runs from nine innings in five Test matches in Australia. With Pant’s flair and KL Rahul’s composure, India ensured they reached a position from which they couldn’t lose the game.
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Throughout this Test match, Pant has attracted more attention than any other player. While there have been several standout performances—centuries by Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal in the first innings, followed by a hundred from Ollie Pope and a brisk 99 from Harry Brook—it is Pant’s unique style that has captured the spotlight.
Pant took theatrics to a whole new level, even beyond his humorous stump mic banter. His second-innings ton was a tale of two halves—unlike the first innings, where he went all hammer and tongs.
On Day 4, he came in early after Gill chopped on in the first over. The first 30 minutes were tense. Pant charged down the wicket on just the second ball he faced—like in the first innings—and was lucky to survive as a top edge flew for four. A few overs later, he attempted an audacious scoop right after slog-sweeping Josh Tongue—a heart-in-mouth moment. He survived again, thanks to an inside edge, as England reviewed unsuccessfully. That scare served as a wake-up call.
On commentary, Dinesh Karthik was teasing Pant when Rahul walked over to chat with him. Pant also had a pep talk with himself, and it seemed to work. His self-talk, captured by the stump mic, had him saying at the non-striker’s end:
“Tez ball hai Rishabh, maarna hai toh seedha lag jaayega naa iss ball pe, kuch alag karne ki zarurat nahi hai,”
which Karthik helpfully translated for the audience.
After that, Pant cut down on his risky shots and safely guided India to 153/3 at lunch. With only 159 on the board and seven wickets in hand, India couldn’t afford to relax, as the ball was doing plenty under overcast skies—thanks to Tongue, Brydon Carse, and even Ben Stokes.
Post-lunch, chaos broke loose. Pant unleashed a barrage of boundaries and sixes to destabilize the England bowling attack. KL Rahul, whose golden touch was a treat to watch, had to take a backseat as Pant went into overdrive at the other end.
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