Kris Srikkanth heaps praise on Rishabh Pant; says he has never seen a keeper like him since Adam Gilchrist
Rishabh Pant recorded his first Test hundred on home soil at the world's largest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad. Pant battered the England bowlers on the second day of the 4th Test as he scored 101 runs off just 118 deliveries. Pant's innings impressed former Indian cricketer Kris Srikkanth, who heaped praise on the player.
After Rishabh Pant lost his wicket to James Anderson, Srikkanth sent out a tweet to laud the Indian wicketkeeper's innings. Srikkanth stated that he had never seen a keeper dominate the opposition bowlers like Pant since Adam Gilchrist quit the sport.
"What a terrific century by @RishabhPant17 when Team India needed it the most! Never seen such destruction by a keeper since Gilly #ENGvIND #pant #TeamIndia," Kris Srikkanth tweeted.
Rishabh Pant came out to bat at number six when Team India was 80/4 in 37.5 overs. He started slowly and stabilized the innings with Rohit Sharma. India lost Rohit and Ravichandran Ashwin's wickets, but that did not deter Pant.
Rishabh Pant took 82 deliveries to complete his half-century. He switched gears after touching the 50-mark as he aggregated his next fifty runs off just 33 deliveries.
Pant completed his maiden home Test hundred in style with a maximum. However, he, unfortunately, lost his wicket to James Anderson soon after.
Rishabh Pant has played game-changing knocks in the lower middle order
Former Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist started his career as a middle-order batsman. However, his batting position did not stop him from attacking opposition bowlers. Gilchrist batted 100 innings at number seven in Test cricket, scoring 3,948 runs, including 12 centuries.
Rishabh Pant bats a bit higher up the order than Gilchrist, but just like the Aussie legend, he has shown the ability to build significant partnerships with the bowling all-rounders and the tail-enders. It will be interesting to see if Pant can match Gilchrist's Test numbers in the lower-middle order in the future.