Despite the heartbreaking loss at the Edgbaston Test, India still had some positives to take away from the game which was otherwise easily dominated by England’s chase. Prime amongst these was the form of Rishabh Pant, who scored a rapid, counter-attacking 146(111) in the first innings, before complementing that with a half-century in the third. In doing so, he became the India wicketkeeper with the most runs scored in a single Test match outside of Asia.
Opposition captain Ben Stokes was full of praise for Pant, pointing out how significant his innings was, and how important his wicket in the third innings was. Without that wicket, Pant could have taken the game away from England very quickly.
“He is someone who would fit very well in our team at the moment, the way he goes about the game,” said Stokes in his press conference. England’s new identity under his captaincy and the coaching of Brendon McCullum is to attack and always be on the front foot, something which was shown in Jonny Bairstow’s twin hundreds in the match, as well as Joe Root’s century in the chase.
“Rishabh Pant's innings for India in the first innings was obviously against us, but I absolutely loved watching it,” said Stokes. “Being on the receiving end of that, it was incredible to watch, and he’s someone who has had criticism in the past but now is getting the plaudits for playing that way.”
{{/usCountry}}“Rishabh Pant's innings for India in the first innings was obviously against us, but I absolutely loved watching it,” said Stokes. “Being on the receiving end of that, it was incredible to watch, and he’s someone who has had criticism in the past but now is getting the plaudits for playing that way.”
{{/usCountry}}Pant brought up his first innings century in 89 balls. His innings was significant in India’s recovery from 98-5 to 416. His innings got him a lot of credit from all across the cricketing world for its braveness and aggression, but also for his ability to pick his balls and commit to attacking certain bowlers.
Pant will be back in action in the white-ball series against Jos Buttler’s England, with him being in the squad for the second and third T20Is as well as the ODI series.