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.
MAL
55/0
HKG
52/4
WI
–
AUS
–
RWA
157/5
ML
158/1
Malawi beat Rwanda by 9 wickets
TBC
–
TBC
–
ROM
178/6
LUX
133/10
Romania won by 45 runs
HUN
168/9
AUST
169/6
Austria beat Hungary by 4 wickets
AUST
245/7
LUX
179/5
Austria beat Luxembourg by 66 runs
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
ALZ
88/10
JIHCC
163/4
Jinnah CC Stockholm beat Alby Zalmi by 75 runs
RPH
123/6
MAR
150/4
Marsta CC beat Rising Phoenix by 27 runs
JIHCC
153/9
ALZ
168/4
Alby Zalmi CC beat Jinnah CC by 15 runs
RPH
166/4
JIHCC
78/10
Rising Phoenix beat Jinnah CC by 88 runs
ALZ
100/5
RPH
99/7
Alby Zalmi CC beat Rising Phoenix by 5 wickets
RPH
–
JIHCC
–
HDN
–
ALZ
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
BOT-W
143/6
MWW-W
78/10
Botswana Women beat Malawi Women by 65 runs
EWW-W
40/10
LSN-W
88/9
Lesotho Women beat Eswatini Women by 48 runs
RWA-W
135/7
SLO-W
84/10
Rwanda Women beat Sierra Leone Women by 51 runs
CW-W
88/8
MZW-W
87/8
Cameroon Women beat Mozambique Women by 2 wickets
GUJCC
218/6
SUL
83/7
Gujrat Cricket Club beat Super Lanka by 135 runs
CHK
–
TCC
–
FRC
122/4
KLG
108/6
Fatemi Resources Cricket Club beat KL Gladiators by 14 runs
JBK
80/4
SWCL
106/5
Sky Warriors Cricket Club beat JB Kings by 26 runs
UTC
78/4
MXC
80/2
Maxx Cricket Club beat Utkal Cricket Club by 8 wickets
MKP
75/4
MBMS
73/10
MR KB Putrajaya beat MB Malik Sports UMZ by 6 wickets
FRC
–
MXC
–
JBK
–
MBMS
–
UTC
–
KLG
–
MKP
–
SWCL
–
UAE
141/5
NIG
88/10
United Arab Emirates beat Nigeria by 53 runs
KNY
126/6
NBA
123/2
Kenya beat Namibia A by 3 runs
KNY
–
NIG
–
UAE
–
UGA
–
VMK
–
MMS
–
MAK
154/9
BDS
155/4
Boost Defenders beat Mis Ainak Knights by 6 wickets
ASS
174/4
SGT
173/6
Amo Sharks beat Speen Ghar Tigers by 6 wickets
WIU19-W
67/5
USAU19-W
66/9
West Indies Women U19 beat United States Of America Women U19 by 5 wickets
WIU19-W
–
USAU19-W
–
TBLZ-W
–
BRB-W
–
TBC
–
TBC
–
Match Cancelled
SUR-W
–
TBC
–
IAC
203/4
AAC
207/6
Australia Champions beat India Champions by 4 wickets
PNC
200/4
WIC
151/7
Pakistan Champions beat West Indies Champions by 49 runs
SAC
–
AAC
–
IAC
–
EDC
–
NZ
180/5
SA
177/6
New Zealand beat South Africa by 3 runs
IRE-W
288/9
ZIM-W
191/10
Ireland Women won by 97 runs
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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Malaysia won by 10 wickets