There is a method to his madness and India dasher Rishabh Pant seems to have cracked the code. Under the cloud cover on Friday, the Pant school of batting had a new story to tell. The 24-year-old stumper produced a counter-attacking 146 off just 111 balls, helping India recover from a top-order collapse to 338 for seven at stumps on the opening day of the ongoing fifth Test against England. (India vs England Live Score, 5th Test Day 2)
Pant’s belligerent innings comprised 19 fours and four sixes as he put on a dominating partnership of 222 with fellow left-hander Ravindra Jadeja, who was 83 not out at the close of play. Unperturbed by India losing three quick wickets in the second session, Pant was his usual self, not shying away from dishing out aggressive brand of cricket. He played conventional strokes, including the straight drives and back-foot punches, but there was more to it. The Indian hit a reverse scoop against James Anderson – a replay of his audacious shot against the pacer when England toured India in 2021.
While Pant left everyone in awe with his counter-attacking ton pressure, former Pakistan tweaker Danish Kaneria fired rare criticism at the wicketkeeper-batter, saying he should have been careful in his shot selection. Kaneria lauded Pant for his batting display but said he needs to be more responsible when attempting unorthodox strokes including the reverse hit.
“England bowlers were looking ordinary against Pant and Jadeja. I was really enjoying their batting but got a little angry when I saw Pant going for the reverse sweep. He is such a good player but needs to bring maturity. I was listening to (Ravi) Shastri’s commentary when he was talking about Pant’s shot selection. He has got every shot in his book but I don’t understand why he wants to throw his wicket away. He can go big and reach 150, even 200,” said Kaneria on his official YouTube channel.
“God has given him (Pant) everything but I don’t know why he goes for rash shots. He plays cover drives and hits Anderson down the ground. He can play these shots but still decides to a careless shot. I will be very blunt. I will call it stupidity. It was a wonderful innings but Pant needs to be a lot more mature. Had Pant and Jadeja not been there, India would have got out for just 200. England are now on the back foot,” he added.
Pant’s innings came to an end with part-timer Joe Root providing the much-needed breakthrough. He edged a drive to Zak Crawley, who held his third slip catch of the day.
As Pant had the crowd on its feet, former India coach Ravi Shastri recalled a chat with him during India’s home series against England. Shastri had suggested the reverse sweep to the maverick wicketkeeper-batter.
“Last year I was talking to Pant and I told him I am getting bored seeing you throwing it away in the same fashion every time, aren’t you bored as well? So why don’t you try something different, something more outrageous… like a reverse sweep maybe? And I saw his eyes light up. It’s very important to back a player’s ability,” Shastri said during commentary on Sky Sports.
“He reverse swept Jack Leach a couple of times. In the next Test, he did that against Anderson. Took a step ahead by reverse sweeping Jofra Archer, one of their fastest bowlers in the limited-overs series,” he added.
