India vice-captain Rishabh Pant reveals he had informed England spinner Shoaib Bashir before smashing him for six to get to his century
India’s Rishabh Pant hits a six during Day Two of the first Test against England in Leeds on Saturday. Pic/Getty Images
Wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant, who hit his seventh Test century in the first Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy Test against England at Headingley, said he initially considered three celebrations but ultimately chose a familiar one — the front handspring.
On Saturday, Pant hit an astonishing 134 and now holds the record for most Test hundreds as a wicketkeeper for India, going past the legendary MS Dhoni’s tally of six centuries. It was also Pant’s third Test hundred in England — which is a mammoth feat as no other visiting wicketkeeper has more than one Test century in the country.
“I had three celebrations in mind — of an OK sign on the eye [which footballer Dele Alli does], another was ‘let bat do the talking’. Then I thought, I will quietly do the one I know well. I have been doing it from my childhood [handspring].
“I trained in gymnastics in school. I am very used to it since childhood. Even if you wake up me up in the middle of the night, I can do this. After the accident, I had to work harder for doing this. I worked on it and it’s now easy for me to do it,” said Pant in a chat with veteran India batter Cheteshwar Pujara ahead of Day Three’s play.
He also revealed what was going through his mind when he was on the verge of getting the century, which he got with a one-handed six off Bashir over mid-wicket. “When [Shoaib] Bashir was bowling in the previous over, I thought I should get to the hundred. I didn’t want to play percentage cricket and take a risk. He was bowling well, so I respected it and took a single.”
“In the next over when he came, I told him before ‘if you keep the field close-in, I will hit the big shot.’ Luckily, I was batting on 99 and I was confident. The pressure was there, but I wanted to play on the merit of the ball.”
4
No. of centuries Rishabh Pant has scored against England
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