"Rishabh Pant's innings was absolutely phenomenal" - Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh has termed Rishabh Pant's century in India's first innings of the final Test against England as a "phenomenal" knock.
The dashing wicketkeeper-batsman scored an enterprising 101 runs off just 118 deliveries to help India take an 89-run lead into stumps on the second day.
During a discussion on Star Sports, Harbhajan Singh lauded Rishabh Pant's knock and pointed out that he has been a transformed player since the Australia series.
"Rishabh Pant's innings was absolutely phenomenal. Since the time he has come back from Australia, the runs he has scored there, he is a totally different player. He is taking the responsibility on his shoulder and got a great understanding of his game and is playing according to the demands of the situation," said Singh.
The former Indian off-spinner highlighted Rishabh Pant toned down his game at the start of his innings and played as per the need of the hour.
"His natural game is that of a stroke-player who can demolish any bowler but he showed today that if it is not required, you also need to know how to defend. He generally plays the big shots against the spinners but he gave himself the time to settle as the team needed him to play cautiously and build a partnership," added Harbhajan Singh.
"Jimmy Anderson would be thinking if he is the same Rishabh Pant" - Harbhajan Singh
Harbhajan Singh observed Rishabh Pant was back to his belligerent self once India took the lead. He added the southpaw's brutal attack on James Anderson when he was operating with the new ball would have left the pacer stunned.
"When he achieved the 206-run target, he got back to his real form which all of us liked. Jimmy Anderson would also be thinking if he is the same Rishabh Pant who was defending when he was bowling to him with the old ball and attacking him when he has the new ball," said Singh.
The Turbanator signed off by stating that Anderson will not forget Rishabh Pant's audacious reverse lap over the slip cordon for a boundary.
"Credit to him. You need guts to play a shot like that. This shot will remain in Jimmy Anderson's mind for a long time. When he retires and thinks about the best shots that have been played against him, this shot will cause him pain because it a question of ego that a small kid played a reverse sweep against such a big bowler," concluded Harbhajan Singh.
Rishabh Pant walked into bat when the Indian team was in a spot of bother, with the score reading 80/4. He stitched together a couple of useful partnerships with Rohit Sharma and Ravichandran Ashwin to take the team's total to 146/6.
The 23-year-old was then joined by Washington Sundar in the middle. The duo strung together a 113-run partnership to put India in the ascendancy in the encounter.