‘Rishabh Pant's achievements…being compared with are legends like Dilip Vengsarkar, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar': Sanjay Manjrekar
Rishabh Pant amassed two hundreds in two innings of the first Test match between India and England at Headingly. Although India has lost the Test match when it comes to batting in overseas conditions, Pant, with his unorthodox method, has shown his mettle again already proved his worth, and even without the gloves, his record commends the place among top batters.
'When you look at all of Rishabh Pant's achievements, the first instinct is to think of him purely as a batter, and understandably so. Because when you're talking about batting exploits in England, scoring twin hundreds, the names he's being compared with are legends like Dilip Vengsarkar, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, and Sunil Gavaskar,' Sanjay Manjrekar said, speaking on Jiostar.
Manjrekar would draw comparisons of Pant with Sri Lankan batter Kumara Sangakkara. However, Sangakkara has not kept wickets as regularly as Pant. 'But here's the remarkable part — he's also a wicketkeeper. That's what makes it almost unbelievable. I know someone like Kumar Sangakkara had a phenomenal batting record, but he wasn't quite the keeper that Rishabh Pant is,' Manjrekar said.
'Pant is India's first and last choice as a wicketkeeper in this Test side — and that says a lot. Now, if you look at the numbers — most hundreds by Indians in Tests in England — Rahul Dravid leads with six. And suddenly, you have Pant's name in that same elite bracket. And there's a nice little twist — there are two Rahul's in this story,' Manjrekar observed.
Manjrekar also added that Pant might even surpass Rahul Dravid by the end of the England tour. 'You've got KL Rahul, and you've got Rishabh Pant. Who knows, by the time this series is done, Pant could match or even surpass Rahul Dravid. There are still four Tests to go in this series — that's potentially eight innings for Pant. And he's already started in near-perfect fashion.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India.com
27 minutes ago
- India.com
India vs England 2nd Test: Bring Kuldeep Yadav in for Shardul Thakur at Edgbaston demands…
Shardul Thakur claimed a couple of wickets in second innings of 1st Test vs England in Leeds. (Photo: ANI) Team India have an unwanted slice of history, becoming the first team in the history of Test cricket to lose a game after scoring five centuries. Shubman Gill's Indian side are down 1-0 in the five-match series after losing the first Test at Headingley in Leeds by five wickets. One of India's biggest weakness was the inability of the bowlers to claim 20 wickets in the Test match. Indians failed to defend a massive target of 371 runs in the fourth innings as well. Pick your best bowlers, says Sanjay Manjrekar Former India cricketer Sanjay Manjrekar believes the team should consider bringing in Kuldeep Yadav to replace all-rounder Shardul Thakur, who looked far from threatening in his comeback Test. 'I think Kuldeep Yadav has to come back. I'm sorry to say, but Shardul Thakur has to go out. That is one change India will have to make,' JioHotstar expert Manjrekar said. 'As for Nitish Kumar Reddy — I backed him for the first Test purely based on what he did in Australia. It's an unpopular choice, because when he comes in, the balance does get affected a bit. He won't quite bowl like a fourth seamer, so India needs to take a hard call: even in English conditions, they must go with quality bowlers. If that means playing two spinners, so be it. Pick your best bowlers, irrespective of the conditions. You don't have the luxury of someone like Mohammed Shami available, or the full-strength pace battery, so I'd go one seamer short and bring Kuldeep Yadav into the XI,' he added. Kuldeep Yadav has amazing record in Test cricket Delhi Capitals chinaman bowler Kuldeep Yadav has a brilliant record in Test cricket with 56 wickets in 13 matches at an average of 22.16. His last match came against New Zealand in Bengaluru last year. 'He has to play. Let's also acknowledge that English summers these days are largely dry — thanks to global warming, perhaps — and that does open the door for spin. In a way, it's time to reintroduce the idea of India playing spin in England. Ben Stokes has already changed the narrative with common-sense, aggressive cricket. India needs to embrace the same clarity. There was a time when India would play three spinners no matter what — whether in New Zealand or England. 'If Kuldeep is in your squad, play him. Don't go with seamers just because you're playing in England. I'd drop one seamer and bring in Kuldeep Yadav,' Manjrekar felt. Shardul Thakur only bowled six overs in the first innings and only managed to claim 2 wickets in the second innings of the English chase. The Mumbai all-rounder also lasted only a handful of deliveries while batting in both the innings. The second Test between India and England will begin at Edgbaston in Birmingham on July 2.
Indian Express
34 minutes ago
- Indian Express
Headingley whodunit: Coloured coats, black line in stands, crowded stands and general sloppiness conspire dropped catches
Since 2019, it was the first time India had dropped more than five catches. A probe into the greasy fingers that proved expensive at Headingley. First innings 6.6 Ravindra Jadeja drops Ben Duckett on 15 As Jasprit Bumrah provided rare width to cut, Duckett slashed hard at this one, which took the outside edge and flew low towards Jadeja at backward point. Despite getting both hands to it, Jadeja ended up grassing it. Duckett made 62. 30.6 Yashasvi Jaiswal drops Ollie Pope on 60 In the previous over, Bumrah had removed Duckett as India sensed an opening and nearly had the set batsman Pope who was in middle of a fluent knock. He tried to steer Bumrah through the cordon, but got a thick edge which Jaiswal dropped in the cordon, the ball hitting the wrists. Pope went on to make 106. 71.1 Rishabh Pant drops Harry Brook on 46 Ravindra Jadeja was in the middle of one good spell when he induced an edge of Brook who was struggling against the spinner. But because of the extra bounce, the ball climbed at Pant at an awkward height who couldn't get a hand to it. Brook went on to make 99. 84.6 Jaiswal drops Brook on 84 Of all the drops, it was the most straightforward one. As Brook tried to guide Bumrah through the slip cordon, all that he managed was an edge which went in the direction of Jaiswal at fourth slip. But the Indian opener fluffed a simple chance, handing Brook another life. Second innings 28.5 Bumrah drops Zak Crawley on 42 As England openers were setting up a strong platform, they remained error-free as India toiled for a break. In the 29th over, Crawley drove on the up giving a caught and bowled chance to Bumrah, who was still in his follow through with the ball flying low. Hit his palm and the floor. Crawley made 65. 38.5 Jaiswal drops Duckett on 97 Mohammed Siraj delivered a short ball with fielders lined-up on the leg-side boundary. Jaiswal ran in, covered the ground and got both hands to the ball, but couldn't hold on to it as Siraj looked totally frustrated. Duckett went on to make a match-winning 149. England too dropped catches–as many as four were spilled in India's second innings. So it could be venue specific as well. Former England captain Alastair Cook reckoned a black line in the stands' backdrop could be a reason. 'I think the main reason for this ground in particular, if you look at the stands there's a black line, a really dark black line and if the ball goes into that, I think players miss it a little bit,' said Cook. 'You miss picking up that crucial bit and you panic. When you want to catch, you want to have firm, hard hands but also a nice relaxed body. So if you miss a little bit and you think, 'where's the ball gone?' You panic and you get electric hands,' he added Cook's teammate Stuart Broad reckoned it is easy to lose the sight of the ball at the venue.'Headingley is a difficult viewing ground,' said Broad, speaking on Sky Sports. 'You can lose a ball in the stands, and when the clouds are in, certain bits are darker. You only have to lose it for 0.1 seconds and you get tense. Broad also revealed that since the stands were packed, it could be harder for fielders to pick the ball from the crowd. 'I think it can be quite a difficult place to catch, to be honest. Do you know what actually makes it harder? It's the crowd. When it gets a bit colder, the crowd have different coloured coats on, and there's a couple of empty seats in the stands as well, so the ball comes out a bit differently from the crowd. Also when the sun's not out, when the clouds are in, it can just be a little bit darker in certain parts of the ground.'
Hindustan Times
44 minutes ago
- Hindustan Times
India and the tail that doesn't wag
New Delhi: There are many reasons why India became the first team to lose a Test after scoring five centuries. It could be the poor catching. It could be the tactically-inept coaching. It could be inexperienced captaincy. It could simply be because England were the better side. You can take your pick but there is no denying that the visitors had chances to take charge but showed a damning frailty when it mattered the most. Both India captain Shubman Gill and coach Gautam Gambhir identified that they missed out on some runs from the lower middle-order in both innings. (AP) In the first innings, India were cruising at 430/3. The fans were smiling and looking at this young team in a new light. Yashasvi Jaiswal (101), skipper Shubman Gill (147) and Rishabh Pant (134) had done enough to give the team a solid platform. Then, they went from 430/3 to 471 all out with the last five wickets contributing just 18 runs. This was the moment head coach Gautam Gambhir felt India lost control of the game. 'If we could've got to 570, 580 in the first innings, we could've dominated from there,' he said. He isn't wrong, a total in that range would have piled the pressure on the hosts and maybe put a loss out of the picture. A repeat performance followed in the second innings. India cruising at 333/4 – thanks to hundreds by KL Rahul (137) and Pant (118) – collapsed to 364 all out with the last five wickets adding just 29 runs. In the post-match chat, Gill revealed that India had aimed for a target 'around 435'. On both occasions, India were in command but when it was time to hammer home the advantage, they collapsed. For context, England's last five wickets contributed 116 runs in the first innings and the unbroken sixth wicket stand was worth 71 in the second innings. The Headingley pitch was good for batting but there is no guarantee it will be the case for the remaining Tests, and as the series goes on these moments will resonate more loudly. So much of sport is about confidence and after the first Test one can be sure England will fancy their chances against the Indian tail. Josh Tongue got the stumps in play and that was the perfect tactic. Gambhir, though, doesn't want to blame anyone. 'First of all, I'll tell you it's not that they were not applying themselves,' he said. 'Sometimes people fail, and that's okay. I know it is disappointing, and more importantly they are more disappointed than anyone. Because they knew that we had the opportunity. I'm not going to sit here and single out 'it's because of the tail' or 'the tail couldn't contribute' or '8, 9, 10, 11 couldn't contribute'. We lose together, we win together. 'It's not like they're not working hard in the nets. These things happen. Even proper batters fail. Hopefully they'll learn, and hopefully we'll get better performances from our tail. And that is not the only reason we lost the Test.' Not 'the only reason' but a big reason for sure. It will be easy to say that they need to put a price on their wicket but swing and seam can present a very different challenge for India's lower order. During the Anthony de Mello Trophy (England in India) in 2023/24, India's lower order scored 927 runs in the series at a solid average of 25.75. But even home comfort deserted them against New Zealand where the lower order averaged 12.26. Of late, the grit has been even more difficult to come by away from home. In Australia 2024/25, the lower order (6-11) averaged 17.83 despite Nitish Reddy scoring some good runs. In South Africa 2023/24, the average was just 10.46. The conditions are tough but this is precisely where runs from the lower order can make a big difference. In the second Test at Nottingham in 2011, India had England on the ropes at 124/8 before Stuart Broad (64) and Graeme Swann (28) helped the hosts reach 221. In response, India made 288 before England piled on 544 in their second essay. In the fourth innings, India were bowled out for 158. The series was lost 4-0. At Southampton in 2018, England were 86/6 before rearguard action by Sam Curran (78), playing in just his fourth Test, helped them reach 246. India failed to cash in and the hosts won by 60 runs. The series was lost 4-1. These are just two examples that India need to learn from. Hang in there, score the ugly runs if that is what it takes. Maybe this is a learning curve for some of the newer members in the team but it isn't something the team management needs to spell out. For now, Gambhir wants to fall back on an intangible called pride. 'Every defeat is bad. It's not about a young team or an experienced team. It's an Indian team. We take pride in winning each and every game for our country. A young team is not an excuse. We represent 140 crore proud Indians. We will try and give our absolute best. There are no excuses. We will turn up every Test thinking that we can win the Test and win the series.' Come the second Test at Edgbaston, India will hope the gap between Gambhir's dream and India's reality won't be as huge as it was at Headingley. If it is, the players and the fans might be in for a very long series.
