Former England captain Michael Vaughan believes that even skipper Ben Stokes couldn’t help but admire Rishabh Pant’s outstanding performance with the bat during the first Test at Leeds. Despite India’s five-wicket loss, the 27-year-old wicketkeeper-batter stood out with centuries in both innings.
Pant’s feat made him only the second designated wicketkeeper in Test history to achieve this, following Zimbabwe’s Andy Flower. His century in the first innings also saw him surpass MS Dhoni to become India’s leading century-maker among wicketkeepers.
Speaking about Pant’s heroics on the Stick to Cricket show, Michael Vaughan remarked (as quoted by Indian Express):
“There’s a lot of science in that madness the way that he plays. You can see even Ben Stokes is admiring when he’s batting. Adam Gilchrist for me is the best wicketkeeper-batter. But Pant just set a new trend.”
“I mean MS Dhoni, across white ball cricket, was fantastic. You would think with the way that he plays, Pant would be completely suited to the white ball game and not so much the Test game, But his Test record is miles better than his white ball record.”
“His smile doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to win”- Alastair Cook on Rishabh Pant
Another former England skipper, Alastair Cook, feels that Rishabh Pant possesses a strong competitive spirit, even though he often appears cheerful and lighthearted while batting or keeping wickets. The left-hander showcased his explosive style by hitting nine sixes in the Leeds Test, including one to bring up his century in the first innings.
Speaking about Pant on the same show, Cook stated:
“That smile doesn’t mean he doesn’t like (to win). Or that he’s not the most competitive (player). You don’t score two centuries and not really want to. He could have tossed (been casual in the second innings) and said I’ve scored a hundred in the first innings. But he didn’t.” (via the aforementioned source).
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