Rishabh Pant is the talk of the town despite India's loss in the first Test at Headingley. Pant's heroics with the bat was eye-catching, something that gives a lot of promise for the Indian Test team going forward.
Pant scored a century in each innings, becoming the first Indian keeper-batter to do so. After his twin centuries in the first Test, the southpaw now has eight Test tons. He has seven 90-plus scores as well in the format.
In a Test match, where the Indian lower-order collapsed twice after the team being in a great position, Pant's batting was a big highlight. AB De Villiers credited him for taking the game to the opposition bowlers as well.
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Now, Rishabh Pant has been admired by former India head coach Greg Chappell who spoke about his batting potential in an interview with India Today.
“The beauty is Rishabh gets runs at a very fast rate which gives you time to win cricket matches. His was a phenomenal performance. Some of the shots he played weren’t in the MCC playing manual. He is really reinventing the game as a batter. With modern technology, the bats are very different and you can play shots which weren’t possible with the old bats. He's exciting to watch" Chappell said.
Greg Chappell On Rishabh Pant
He also likened Pant to former Aussie great Adam Gilchrist saying the Indian southpaw reminded him of Gilchrist at first glance.
“When I first saw him, he reminded me of Adam Gilchrist. A different sort of player, of course, but the difference it can make to a team when a wicketkeeper can bat at that level and to score runs quickly. You never quite know what to expect from him from the first ball. At any stage, he is likely to jump down the wicket to the fast bowlers or play the falling ramp shot. You never quite know what to expect. It keeps the opposition on their toes. He is a match-winner (and he) very nearly made the difference in that game," added Chappell.
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Pant Added Key Stands With Gill And Rahul At Headingley
Pant added key partnerships with Shubman Gill and KL Rahul in the two innings. Pant added 209 runs with Gill in the first innings and 195 runs with Rahul in the second. However, India's lower-order collapse meant that they failed to put up scores beyond 500. The second Test starts from July 2 with India needing to fix their batting and bowling woes in quick time.
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