Greg Chappell Lauds Rishabh Pant: 'Some Shots Weren't In MCC Coaching Manual...'
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Greg Chappell has lauded Rishabh Pant's swift Test batting and twin hundreds at Headingley, redefining the game and making him an exciting player to watch.
Former India head coach Greg Chappell has said that the beauty of Rishabh Pant's Test batting is that he gets his runs swiftly which gives his team the time to win games, as the Test vice-captain left his mark at Headingley with twin hundreds, a record for an Indian batter.
Chappell said that Pant is redefining the way the game is played, with a batting approach that breaks away from usual norms.
India might have lost the Headingley Test, but Pant's brilliance shone through as he scored hundreds in both innings, a rare feat that underlined his game-changing capability.
'The beauty of it (Pant's batting) is that he gets his runs at a very fast rate, which gives you time to win cricket matches. It was a phenomenal performance; some of the shots that he played probably weren't in the MCC coaching manual when I last looked at it," Chappell said while speaking at an event in Mumbai.
'He is reinventing the game as a batter. You know, modern technology, the bats are very different. You can play shots that weren't possible with the old bats. But man, he's exciting to watch," Chappell added.
Pant made history by becoming just the second wicketkeeper-batter after Andy Flower to score a hundred in each innings of a Test.
'You never quite know what to expect from the first ball at any stage. He's likely to jump down the wicket to the pacers, or he'll play the falling ramp shot. You never quite know what to expect, so it keeps the opposition on their toes," Chappell said.
'What an exciting cricketer, what a player to have on your team. When I first saw him, he was a different sort of player, of course, but he reminded me very much of Adam Gilchrist," Chappell added.
Meanwhile, Pant reached a career-high seventh in the latest ICC Test rankings for batters on Wednesday, following his twin hundreds in the series opener against England in Leeds.
Pant, who became just the second wicketkeeper to hit two centuries in the same game during the first Test of the five-match series, climbed one spot in the list.
First Published:
June 25, 2025, 20:04 IST
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Greg Chappell in awe of Pant's batting
Greg Chappell, former Australia captain and former Indian men's cricket coach, is thrilled with Rishabh Pant's batting, despite possessing a technique that's not in 'the MCC coaching manual'. 'What an exciting cricketer! What a player to have on your team!' Chappell said, while interacting via videoconferencing at a launch of str8bat, a smart bat sticker that acts as a performance analysis tool. 'He reminds me very much of Adam Gilchrist. The difference that it can make to a team to have a wicketkeeper that can bat at that level and to score runs quickly,' he added. Besides surpassing Mahendra Singh Dhoni's tally of six Test hundreds, hitherto the most by an Indian 'keeper, Pant became only the second wicketkeeper in Test history to score a hundred in each innings of a Test match during India's series-opener in Leeds. 'The beauty of it is that Rishabh gets his runs at a very fast rate, which gives you time to win cricket matches. He was a phenomenal performer (at Headingley). Some of the shots that he played probably weren't in the MCC coaching manual when I last looked at it,' Chappell said. 'He is reinventing the game as a batsman. Given the modern technology, the bats are very different, obviously. You can play shots that weren't possible with the old bats. But, man, he is exciting to watch. You never quite know what to expect from him from the first ball. 'At any stage, he is likely to jump down the wicket to the fast bowlers or he will play the falling ramp shot. It keeps the opposition on their toes. He is a match-winner and very nearly made the difference in that regard.' Former India wicket-keeper and chief selector Kiran More and Chappell hoped that the technological innovation would get a go-ahead by the Marylebone Cricket Club — the custodian of the cricket laws — for the stickers to be used in competitive matches.
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an hour ago
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