Rishabh Pant lit up Headingley on Saturday with a stunning century in the first Test of the five-match England series. The left-hander thrilled the full house of Leeds supporters not just with his free-flowing batting but also with his trademark somersault celebration when crossing the milestone. The century was especially special, as Pant overtook MS Dhoni to be the Indian wicketkeeper who has achieved the most Test tons.
Pant’s stay at the crease was ended at 134 when he misread a ball from Josh Tongue and got caught in front. The ball nipped back sharply, and Pant, choosing to leave it, was hit on the pads in front of middle and leg a simple decision on review.
While commentating for Sky Sports, former India wicketkeeper Dinesh Karthik queried the timing of Pant’s departure, suggesting that head coach Gautam Gambhir could have affected a change in strategy following Shubman Gill and Karun Nair’s dismissals. Karthik hinted that Pant’s natural game might have been affected by outside directives, which could have led to the lapse in judgment
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“Also very interesting, when a message was sent out to Rishabh Pant, it curbed his style of play. He was just very carefree with his stroke making, and yet the feeling that a message was sent to tell him to calm down doesn’t work for certain players, I guess,” said Dinesh Karthik on air.
“As a coach, it’s completely understandable when you want to get a message across to the batter. But over time, you realise, for certain players, how you send that message becomes very important, what is the tone, what is the language used that gets the best out of the batter,” he added.
“Maybe with Rishabh Pant, it needs to be a different way in which you get things done,” said Karthik.
After a strong start, India were bowled out for 471, with Jaiswal, Gill, and Pant scoring three-figure scores and holding the innings together. Yet, a late collapse saw the visitors lose their last seven wickets for a paltry 41 runs. England’s Josh Tongue and captain Ben Stokes spearheaded the bowling effort with four wickets each.
