There was plenty of admiration for India’s wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant as four former England cricketers Michael Vaughan, Alastair Cook, David Lloyd and Phil Tufnell reviewed the first Test between India and England at Leeds where England had surged into a 1-0 lead after winning by five wickets. Pant was the standout performer for India in the first Test at Headingley, scoring centuries in both innings.
While the way he played his cricket was singled out for praise by the likes of Cook and Vaughan, they also mentioned how much they admired Pant’s ability to banter with opposition players.
Talking about Pant’s batting on the first episode of the Stick to Cricket show, Vaughan said: “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.”
Vaughan went on to add: “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.”
There was one moment when Vaughan, Cook and Lloyd struggled to control their laughter as Tufnell broke down Rishabh Pant’s trademark shot, which the quartet have named the ‘roly-poly ramp shot’.
Tufnell lay flat on the floor in an exaggerated motion while explaining Pant’s ramp shot.
“It’s like tossing a pancake when he hits that,” he said as the rest of the guys chuckled hard.
Story continues below this ad
While talking about Pant goodnaturedly pulling the leg of opposition players, Cook said that the left-hander was also a fierce competitor.
“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.”
