Rishabh Pant was at his attacking best in the fifth Test against England, smashing 146 in only 111 balls at a strike rate to rescue India from a tricky position.
Walking in to bat at 71-4, Pant got to his fifty in a brisk 51 deliveries, but accelerated thereafter, hitting England’s bowlers to all parts of Edgbaston. The left-hander moved to his fifth Test hundred in 89 deliveries, registering the fastest hundred by an India keeper in the format, a feat that saw a rare animated celebration from head coach Rahul Dravid. Pant hit a total of 20 fours and four sixes, including a 101-metre trademark one-handed maximum, during which he became the youngest gloveman to the milestone of 2,000 Test runs.
Pant broke a number of records in his counter-attacking innings, as he along with Ravindra Jadeja notched up 222 runs for the sixth wicket, taking India to 320 before the former was dismissed by Joe Root.
Pant, 24 years old, now has four Test tons away from home, and currently averages 43.04 in his 31st match with a strike rate of 72.84.
Pundits and former players were left stunned yet again at the brilliance of the youngster, applauding his nonchalance and fearless approach through the innings.
Rishabh Pant becomes the first visiting keeper to score two centuries in England in Tests.#ENGvIND
— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) July 1, 2022
Rishabh Pant, now a Test 100 at Edgbaston, Birmingham in just 89 balls.
This is now the quickest Test century at this ground.
Remember Birmingham has been hosting Test matches since 1902!
Before this, no Test player has managed a sub-100 ball century here.#INDvsENG #INDvENG— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) July 1, 2022
Pant is in a league of his own.
The most entertaining cricketer in the world, this is a special one. pic.twitter.com/PgGTjgxUd9— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) July 1, 2022
I sometimes feel like Rishabh Pant gets even more aggressive when he nears a hundred, as if to show that he really doesn’t care whether or not he gets there. Just the most fun cricketer there is#ENGvIND
— Ben Gardner (@Ben_Wisden) July 1, 2022
Most runs by Asians in SENA before turning 25:
1882 Sachin Tendulkar
1324 Rishabh Pant
1088 Javed Miandad— Abhishek Mukherjee (@ovshake42) July 1, 2022
Rahul Dravid’s reaction to that Rishabh Pant hundred ️#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/zNSp0QLlc8
— Rohit Sankar (@imRohit_SN) July 1, 2022
Phenomenal from Rishabh Pant. Simply outstanding. Fabulous partnership with Jadeja to given they were 98-5.
— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) July 1, 2022
Rishabh Pant is the youngest wicket-keeper in the history of Test cricket to complete 2000 runs – remember that he has just played 8 matches at home.
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) July 1, 2022
@RishabhPant17 simply amazing
— Rashid Khan (@rashidkhan_19) July 1, 2022
Simply awesome @RishabhPant17!
Well done.Crucial innings by @imjadeja. Rotated the strike well and played some amazing shots.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/9ACuhVlGTT
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 1, 2022
Outstanding stuff by Pant. He has played non stop cricket without any break for a while now and performing once again when the team was in trouble. The BCCI awards have not happened for a while but Pant should win the best cricketer in Tests over the last 2 years. #INDvsENG
— Gaurav Sundararaman (@gaurav_sundar) July 1, 2022
This Rishabh Pant guy is spectacular. His hundred today is an epitome of excellence & had many facets- courage-grit-panache-unexplainable talent- the mental toughness & above all ideal mapping interspersed with impregnable resolve @iRashidLatif68
— Dr. Nauman Niaz (@DrNaumanNiaz) July 1, 2022
We are living in a golden era of fantastic and entertaining wicket-keeper/batters – Mohammad Rizwan, Jos Buttler, Jonny Bairstow, Rishabh Pant, Quinton de Kock, Mushfiqur Rahim #Cricket
— Saj Sadiq (@SajSadiqCricket) July 1, 2022
Rishabh Pant the latest player to reinvent Test cricket #ENGvIND
— Daniel Brettig (@danbrettig) July 1, 2022
