New Delhi: Six months ago, Rishabh Pant faced a huge criticism from the legendary India batsman Sunil Gavaskar, who slammed him as “stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid” after a careless dismissal during Boxing Day Test against Australia in MCG. Rapid forward for the ongoing Anderson-Tendulkar trophy testing in Headingly, and the tune of Gavaskar has changed dramatically. After the amazing century of the pants, he called it “luxurious, luxurious, luxurious”.The pants 134 against England marked their seventh Test century, making him the Indian wicketkeeper with hundreds of formats, crossing MS Dhoni’s six tally. It was also the third Test Handrade of the pants in England – a notable achievement, as any other visiting wicketkeeper has not made more than one Test tonnes in the country.“It feels very good. I have worked on my weaknesses, and tried to overcome failures so that you can make a good comeback. I changed some of my mistakes through my hardwork and focus, as well as disciplined my cricket.The pants celebrated the century with a front hand – a gesture that he has been embracing since childhood.“I had three ceremonies in my mind – an OK sign on the eye (who does footballer dele Alli), there was another ‘late bat do the talking’. Then I thought, I would quietly do one that I know well. I am doing it with childhood (with hands).”“I trained in gymnastics in school. I am a habit of this since childhood. Even if you wake me up in the middle of the night, I can do it. After the accident, I had to work hard to do so. I worked on it and now it is easy for me to do it,” Veteran India Batter with Chateshwar Pujara with Chateshwar Pujara a day before 3.
The pants also shared their mentality in the moments that went up to the milestone, which he arrived with Shoaib Bashir’s six on the mid-wicket with six.“When (Shoaib) Bashir was bowling in the last over, I felt that I should go up to a hundred. I did not want to play percentage cricket and wanted to take a risk. He was bowling well, so I respected it and took only one.”“When he came in the next over, I said earlier that ‘if you keep the ground closed, I hit the big shot,’. Fortunately, I was batting at 99 and I was confident. There was pressure, but I wanted to play on the merit of the ball. ,The return of the pants comes on the heels of the IPL 2025 season mixed with tons of Lucknow super veterans, although he ended a high level of campaign against Royal Challengers Bangalore with a century. Reversing their preparation for the test series, Pant explained the technical and mental adjustment made by him.“In my mind, I wanted to cut some shots (in preparation for tests after IPL). I wanted to play in V. If you have seen it, I have not played a lot of shots on the balls who bowled wide. I wanted to play directly and after that the rest would be seen. In my mind, the thought process always tries to read the bowler’s thinking – as if what he is trying to do. ,“Once you have an idea, I have been thought to keep the bowler under pressure because I can kill him. So it is important to play with the bowler’s mentality and try to bother him, as if you allow the bowler to hit the right areas, so he is always at the top. So playing with him, and then coming back to your area – this balance act is now more sophisticated – and I am enjoying it very much. ,On his better defense and discipline at the crease, Pant said:“Mostly it’s about the region-if the ball is in a good field, I try not to do too much. As if a bowler is in a good magic or working on a set-up, a fine. But when the bowler is not in the rhythm, I try to fry on my side.
