Rishabh Pant celebrated his back-to-back hundreds with somersaults
Rishabh Pant had a near-death experience in December of 2022 when he crashed his car on Uttar Pradesh highway before being rescued just in time by a bus conductor and driver, who dragged him out of the burning vehicle.
Almost a year later, Pant made his full recovery and returned to the cricket field in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 and finished as the top-scorer of the season for the franchise.
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This year, he switched his allegiance to Lucknow Super Giants and was named the franchise captain. After enduring a miserable run for majority of IPL 2025, Pant ended the tournament with a superb 118 not out against Royal Challengers Bengaluru. When he reached the three-figure mark, Pant pulled out a special celebration by doing a front handspring.
His next innings also warranted that celebration as the keeper-batter scored a brilliant 134 in the first innings against England at Headingley. Even though he became the first ever keeper-batter to score twin hundreds in a Test match, Pant refrained from doing a somersault in the second innings when he scored 118.
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His former teammate Ravichandran Ashwin, requested the left-hander not to do the somersault celebration because of the danger it poses, his doctor Dinshaw Pardiwala sees it as the consequence of going through a life-altering situation.
“Rishabh trained as a gymnast – and so although he looks large, he is quite agile, and he does have a lot of flexibility. And that’s why he’s been doing those somersaults of late. It’s a well-practised and perfected move – unnecessary though,” Dr. Pardiwala told The Telegraph.
Pant seemed to have fully put his IPL form behind him as he overtook MS Dhoni as the Indian wicket-keeper with most Test centuries with his seventh and eighth hundreds. He achieved the feat in just his 44th Test and is chasing Australian legend Adam Gilchrist’s record of 17 Test centuries.
“He recognises the fact that he was extremely lucky to be alive. He’s so motivated as a cricketer. If you knew the Rishabh before this happened, he’s a much more mature human being. He’s very philosophical now. He appreciates life and everything that goes around it. That typically happens to anyone who’s faced death in the face,” Dr Pardiwala explained.
Despite Pant’s twin hundreds, along with hundreds from captain Shubman Gill, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal, India lost the match and bagged the unwanted record of becoming first ever team to lose a Test match despite five hundreds.
They will wish for Pant to continue his form in the second Test in Birmingham beginning next Wednesday (July 2).
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