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Rishabh Pant's fairytale run in 2021 continued, as he notched up his maiden Test hundred on home soil. After getting dismissed in the 90s on a few occasions, the left-hander brought up his third Test ton under trying circumstances.
Coming in at the fall of Ajinkya Rahane on the stroke of Lunch, Rishabh Pant was watchful early on before opening up with his dazzling strokeplay to put the pressure back on England in the fourth Test in Ahmedabad.
The 23-year-old has come of age since his sparkling 97 in Sydney and is proving to be a huge asset in Team India's middle-order. On a pitch where all the other batsmen barring Rohit Sharma have struggled, Rishabh Pant applied himself brilliantly.
Twitterati lauds Rishabh Pant's sensational hundred
The wicketkeeper-batsman had to face a fair share of criticism in the past for throwing his wicket away. That has also cost him his place in the Indian white-ball team. But this new version of Rishabh Pant looks like he's in for the long haul.
Fans on Twitter have hailed the swashbuckling left-hander for adapting to the situation when runs were difficult to come by before putting the English bowlers to the sword. Here is what some of them said about Rishabh Pant's belligerent hundred.
Rishabh Pant walked out to bat when Team India were in a spot of bother at 80-4, a massive 125 runs adrift of \England's first-innings total. With the well-set Rohit Sharma also falling, the visitors were well and truly back in the game.
When Ravichandran Ashwin was also dismissed, Team India were in real danger of conceding a first-innings lead to the visitors. However, Rishabh Pant had other ideas. In the company of Washington Sundar, the two left-handers put together a hundred-run stand to reassert Team India's ascendancy in the contest.
After a watchful start early on, Rishabh Pant changed gears as the English bowlers began to tire. The left-hander came down the wicket to James Anderson, carting the first delivery off the second new ball for a boundary to signal his intentions.
Pant also scored an audacious reverse-sweep off the veteran fast bowler to move into the 90s before thumping Joe Root over square-leg for a maximum to bring up three figures.
England heaved a huge sigh of relief when Rishabh Pant, on 101, pulled Anderson straight to Root. However, with Washington Sundar completing his half-century shortly after Rishabh Pant's dismissal, the hosts look good for a significant first-innings lead, which could be decisive in the context of the game.
India need to win the series to book their place against New Zealand in the final of the inaugural World Test Championship at Lord's later this year.
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