Former Australian batter Greg Chappell has lavished praise on Rishabh Pant after the opening Test match against England, which the visitors lost by five wickets. The former Indian head coach said Pant is reinventing the game with his pugnacious batting.
After scoring a brilliant knock of 134 runs in the first innings, Pant backed it with another hundred in the second essay. The left-hander scored a majestic knock of 118 runs off 140 balls and added 195 runs with KL Rahul, who scored 137 runs.
This was Pant’s eight Test century as he continues to impress in the red-ball version. Pant is the first Indian batter to score twin centuries in a Test match in English conditions. The left-hander also became the seventh Indian batter to score two centuries in a Test match and became the second wicket-keeper after Andy Flower to score hundreds in each innings of a Test.
Greg Chappell said at a promotional event in Mumbai as quoted by Cricbuzz, “The beauty of it (Pant’s batting) is that he gets his runs at a very fast rate, which gives you time to win cricket matches. His was a phenomenal performance – some of the shots that he played probably weren’t in the MCC coaching manual when I last looked at it. He is reinventing the game as a batsman.”
Chappell added Pant is exciting to watch and he is unpredictable in his batting approach.
“You know, modern technology – the bats are very different. Obviously, you can play shots that weren’t possible with the old bats. But man, he’s exciting to watch. You never quite know what to expect from the first ball at any stage. He’s likely to jump down the wicket to the fast bowlers, or he’ll play the falling ramp shot. You never quite know what to expect, so it keeps the opposition on their toes.”
Pant has been consistently delivering the goods in the red-ball version and he would look to carry the good show. The second Test match between India and England will be played at Edgbaston, Birmingham from July 2nd onwards.
