He scored a sublime 134-run knock on the first innings in Leeds.
Former Indian batter Dinesh Karthik has raised questions on the message sent to star wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant by the head coach Gautam Gambhir. According to him, the advice sent by Gambhir may have directed to Pant’s dismissal soon by a delivery off England pacer Josh Tongue.
“As a coach, it’s completely understandable when you want to get a message across to the batter. Maybe with Rishabh Pant, it needs to be a different way in which you get things done,” he said to Sky Sports.
Notably, India were all set to notch up a mammoth 500-plus score, after finishing the opening day on 359/3 with skipper Shubman Gill and vice-captain Pant on the crease at the scores of 127 and 65, respectively. The 27-year-old notched up his seventh Test hundred early on Day 3.
However, after Gill’s dismissal for 147 and a four-ball-duck from Karun Nair, the Team India head coach decided to calm down the attacking and free-flowing shots of Pant to adopt a more careful approach. But the suggestion didn’t work as the keeper got trapped soon in front of the wickets for 134.
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Following his wicket, the English bowling unit swiftly reduced India from 453/6 to 471 all-out as none of the all-rounders, including Shardul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja, could put on a fighting partnership to take the total above 500.
“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 is that a message was sent to tell him to calm down. It doesn’t work for certain players,” opined Karthik.
A sublime 134-run knock off 178 deliveries from Pant, which included 12 fours and six over-boundaries, helped India to put up a huge 471 on the scoreboard on their first innings in Leeds. This was also the seventh Test ton of the southpaw, with which he surpassed the former India captain M.S. Dhoni, to hold the record for the most Test centuries by an Indian wicketkeeper-batter.
He also became the only visiting gloveman to hit three tons on England soil. Moreover, Pant is currently the third-highest six-hitter in the red-ball format among the Indian players. With 79 sixes, he is only behind the former skipper Rohit Sharma (88) and Virender Sehwag (90). Previously, opener Yashasvi Jaiswal also scored 101 runs on his debut Test match in England.
However, England will kick off Day 3 on 209/3 with centurion Ollie Pope and Harry Brook on the pitch. India’s bowling unit will also be looking to scalp a few quick wickets. All three wickets in the second innings have been bagged by the prime pacer Jasprit Bumrah so far.
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