Former India head coach Ravi Shastri heaped rich praise on Rishabh Pant after the swashbuckling wicketkeeper-batter lit up Headingley with a breathtaking hundred on Day 2 of the first Test against England. Shastri said Pant “plays the numbers game beautifully” and has “his own computer”—one only he understands.
Pant smashed an audacious 134 off 178 balls, studded with 12 fours and six sixes, in an innings that blended brilliance with unorthodoxy. From the gravity-defying falling paddle to a post-century somersault, the 27-year-old brought both majesty and madness to the crease in equal measure.
“Outrageous. He plays the numbers game beautifully, plays the way he wants. He will block for a bit and then shift gears,” Shastri said during commentary on Sky Sports. “He has his own computer and only he knows how it works. That’s his USP. That’s what puts bowlers under pressure and makes him box office – a real entertainer and a match-winner,” the former India all-rounder added.
Pant’s innings was his seventh Test hundred and second since a life-threatening car accident in late 2022. The comeback has been nothing short of remarkable, and Shastri said the post-century celebration was a nod to the road he had travelled.
“That’s why there was that celebration – thanking the man upstairs for giving him the opportunity,” Shastri said.
ENG vs IND 1st Test Day 2 Highlights
“I think his recovery from that accident had a lot to do with the frame of his body and being in his mid-20s. When I saw him in hospital, it wasn’t a pretty sight. Knee in a mess, scars all over the place, bruises all over the place.”
Pant reached his hundred in fitting fashion – launching a one-handed six over mid-wicket off Shoaib Bashir while on 99. It was a shot few would dare attempt at such a nervous juncture, but Pant has always carved his own path.
“This fella is box office. One of the great entertainers and one of the best hundred celebrations I’ve seen. He’s a character, this boy,” said former Surrey and Sussex batter Ian Ward, commentating for Sky Sports.
Back in the series defeat in Australia, Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar had scathingly described a Pant dismissal as “stupid, stupid, stupid” on air. On Saturday at Headingley, watching a resurgent Pant in full flight, Gavaskar offered a very different verdict: “Superb, superb, superb.”