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Rishabh Pant stung by India's defeat to England; battle-scarred Shubman Gill makes a promise
Rishabh Pant and Shubman Gill are feeling the effects of India's loss to England.
Rishabh Pant became only the second wicketkeeper batter ever and the first from India to score twin centuries in a Test match, when he pummelled 134 and 118 against England at the Headingley Stadium in Leeds. His captain, Shubman Gill, marked his Test debut with a century himself, hitting a career-best 147, but all that was reduced to merely an afterthought, as despite five individual centuries, India fell short. Chasing 371 to win, England batted outstandingly to get to the target with five wickets remaining and take a 1-0 lead.
The disappointment was palpable. Not often does a team score almost 800 runs in a Test match and yet end up on the losing side. Spare a thought for Gill, Pant, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal – the ones who didn't do much wrong. Well, barring Jaiswal, who put down four catches in the Test. Gill's captaincy skills were put to the test in the fourth and final innings, where some of his decisions copped flak. Still, it's just one match, and rest assured, Gill will only get better from here.
Surprisingly, though, even the animated and chirpy Pant was hit hard by the defeat. Taking to Instagram, Pant posted pictures from the match and captioned them, "It is going to sting us for a while, but we BELIEVE in bouncing back stronger."
The series opener turned out to be a bittersweet experience for Pant. While he created history with the bat and gloves behind the stumps, he had to pay the price for his involvement in the ball change episode. On Day 3, Pant, after a discussion with the umpire, threw the ball down in disgust after the official Paul Reiffel refused to change the ball. Pant escaped without copping a fine but did get handed a demerit point for 'showing dissent' at the umpire's decision. 48 hours later, India lost, which made matters worse for the vice-captain of the team.
Shubman Gill promises comeback
Gill, too, posted on Instagram, his caption stating, "Every battle leaves you sharper". And sure enough. Ahead of the start of the series, a lot of knives were pointed at Gill for the BCCI's decision to make him captain. And safe to say, he may have silenced a few mouths. Not only did Gill show signs of greatness with the bat, but he also took the game until the final hour of the Test match. The fact that India's middle order failed to put up any fight or his fielders dropped as many as seven catches in the entire match made his life a hell lot tougher, but Gill was not willing to throw in the towel at any stage.
