'Even Ben Stokes admires him...': Ex-England captain heaps 'fantastic' praise on Rishabh Pant following Headingley Test heroics

Rishabh Pant was nothing short of incredible in the first Test of the five-match series against England at Headingley. The wicketkeeper-batter scored centuries in both the innings of the match to break several records. Not only did he become the first-ever Indian wicketkeeper-batter to achieve this feat, but also became the wicketkeeper-batter from the country with the most tons in red-ball cricket.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan couldn't help but praise Pant, stating that even the current England skipper, Ben Stokes admires the 27-year-old's batting.

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“There’s a lot of science in that madness, the way that he plays. You can see even Ben Stokes is admiring when he’s batting," Vaughan said on the Stick to Cricket show.

Vaughan compared Pant with some absolute greats of the game

Pant's stunning display with the bat at Headingley lead to Vaughan comparing him with the likes of Adam Gilchrist and MS Dhoni. He added that even though Pant's style of play suits white-ball formats more, it is in red-ball cricket where the left-hander shines the most.

“Adam Gilchrist for me is the best wicketkeeper-batter. But Pant just set a new trend. I mean, MS Dhoni, across white ball cricket, was fantastic. You would think with the way that he plays, Pant would be completely suited to the white ball game and not so much the Test game. But his Test record is miles better than his white ball record," Vaughan added.

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Despite Pant's heroic twin tons, India ended up coming short against England in the first Test, recording a defeat by five wickets. Though their batters dominated on the Leeds pitch, it was the bowling department which let the Men in Blue down especially during the hosts' second innings where they chased down the 371-run target rather comfortably.

Shubman Gill & Co. will be desperate to win the upcoming Test at Edgbaston which is set to commence from July 2. If they end up recording another defeat then it will become a mountain task for them to make a comeback into the series and England will be the clear favourites to lift the Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy.