1st Test: Gavaskar urges Pant to celebrate with somersault after historic ton

Leeds, June 23 (IANS) Sunil Gavaskar and Rishabh Pant continued to serve up viral social media moments during Day 4 of the first Test of the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy at Headingley on Monday. The left-handed batter followed his brilliant 134 in the first inning with a 118 in the second, becoming the first wicket-keeper batter to score a century in both innings.

He is also the only Indian to score centuries in both innings of a Test in England.

Pant’s iconic somersault celebration has garnered a lot of views and eyeballs in recent days, especially after his first innings ton. However, the vice-captain did not pull out the same celebration after reaching his eighth Test ton. Cameras panned towards Gavaskar in the stand, gesturing towards Pant to do the somersault flip when he raised his century.

It further added to the special chemistry between the duo. During the 2024-25 Border Gavaskar Trophy, Gavaskar had remarked ‘Pant’s dismissal as ‘Stupid. Stupid. Stupid’ before labelling his first innings hundred against England at Headingley as ‘Superb. Superb. Superb.’

Pant made his way to the crease after India skipper Shubman Gill was dismissed in the opening over of the day by Brydon Carse. The 27-year-old started his innings in the usual aggressive and unorthodox fashion, but understood and respected the conditions.

After scoring 31 off 59 deliveries before lunch, he took the attack to English bowlers, especially Shoaib Bashir, and raised his century in 130 balls.

After reaching his century milestone, Pant was dismissed to ramp up India’s score to 118, off Bashir.

Former India player Deep Dasgupta applauded Pant’s ability to bat like one of India’s most resilient batters, Cheteshwar Pujara, and then shift gears when he wants to ramp up the Indian innings.

“The first phase of Pant’s innings was entertaining — he was trying to use the strong wind in his favour, playing those big shots. But he wasn’t quite convincing in the way he did it. Then he decided to switch gears completely. And, this is the beauty of Pant — his cricketing mind is sharp. He abandoned the aggressive shots, went all-out defense, and did not play a single aerial shot after that.

“It reminded me of how versatile he is. This is the same guy who, early in his Test career, once got a 29-ball duck. He can bat like Pujara for an hour or two. We’ve seen him play at a strike rate of 30 for over an hour during hundreds that he has scored. It was fascinating to see the contrast — two very different versions of Rishabh Pant in one session,” said Deep on Jio Hotstar’s ‘Match Centre Live.’

--IANS

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