Ind VS Eng Test: Rishabh Pant makes effortless switch

Leeds: In an interesting coincidence, as Rishabh Pant was nearing his seventh Test century on the second day of the opening game against England here on Saturday, the legendary Sunil Gavaskar was in the commentary booth for viewers back in India.

The moment Pant smashed spinner Shoaib Bashir for a six — one-handed at that — off the first ball of the 100th over, the frames were split between the southpaw’s somersault celebrations and what Gavaskar had to offer. There’s a reason why the cameras panned on the legend when all the spotlight should have been on Pant, who overtook MS Dhoni’s record (6) of Indian wicketkeepers with most Test centuries.      

Just six months ago, at the Boxing Day Test against Australia in Melbourne, a visibly irate Gavaskar let out a ‘stupid, stupid, stupid’ barrage after Pant got dismissed while trying to audaciously scoop pacer Scott Boland. His dismissal was the difference between India drawing or losing the crucial match. 

Those comments instantly went viral and reignited the debate on Pant’s style of high-risk, high-reward batting.

Pant is celebrated across the cricketing world for his explosive style, but there’s a facet of his game that’s barely appreciated — his solid defence. The 27-year-old can play some of the most outrageous shots in the world, leaving one and all bewildered, but when he buckles down, there’s hardly any ball that can get past him. Being a wicketkeeper, he’s got the innate skill to read the line and lengths early and he uses that to his advantage, getting behind and presenting a dead bat whenever he decides to. 

Those defensive attributes were on full display at Headingley over two days. When he strode out to bat on Friday evening, he did smash a boundary off the second ball he faced, but after that, he just buckled down to flummox England skipper Ben Stokes, who set fields for him to go big. Realising a lot hinged on his partnership with captain Shubman Gill and determined to kick off the series on a high, Pant just dropped anchor. 

Such was the dourness, he didn’t score a boundary off the next 46 balls he faced, unimaginable for a batter who held a strike rate of 73.62 prior to this innings. That kind of self-control is possible only when a batter trusts his defence, especially in a place like England where the ball keeps doing something.

Even after Pant broke the shackles, he picked his moments to attack. He exactly knew when to throw the kitchen sink and when to dead bat. Such was his restraint, possibly because he’s now the vice-captain and one of the senior batters in the side, the century on Saturday was his slowest one ever — coming off 146 balls. 

His third century in England was easily of the highest quality. It was a knock of great restraint. It showed that if Pant, who often has everyone on the edge with his audaciousness, gets his shot selection right, he can be a different beast altogether. 

No wonder the broadcaster wanted to know what Gavaskar, who this time was grinning ear to ear when Pant was summersaulting, had to offer about this avatar of Pant.

“Superb, Superb, Superb, absolutely terrific batting by the young man,” was the original Little Masters’ take. It indeed was.