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Rishabh Pant etched his name in history books when he completed his second century of the Headingley Test on the fourth day of the match. The 27-year-old not only became just the seventh Indian player to score centuries in both the innings of a Test, but also the first-ever wicketkeeper-batter from the country to do so. As Pant completed his ton, legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar, who was present in the stands, was seen signalling to him to do his signature somersault celebration. Notably, Pant had done the celebration when he had reached the three-digit mark in India's first innings.
Pant did a celebration made famous by Dele Alli
However, Pant decided not to do it for the second innings and instead opted for a celebration made famous by English footballer Dele Alli. Then, following the end of day's play, Gavaskar made a big revelation and stated that he wanted to do the backstand following Pant's century, however wasn't able to do so due to his age.
“You know what, I've got to confess that after that I came here and I, and I tried not to do the backflip, no chance of, at my age, but I used to do the backstand and I was looking to do the backstand. So if I could do it successfully then, then I would have shown it here, but I wasn't able to," Gavaskar said on Sony Sports.
Gavaskar further stated that he was very happy for Pant, who made a fantastic return to Test cricket following his disappointing display with the bat in the Border-Gavaskar series 2024/25. The wicketkeeper-batter's century was crucial in taking the Men in Blue to a total of 364 in their second innings.
“Very, very happy. I mean, anytime an Indian does well, you feel very happy because you know the passion for cricket in India, how just about every, in every family, I'm sure there is at least one person who, it might not be everybody, at least one person who follows the game," Gavaskar stated.
“And therefore to make that family happy, if you can do well, if India does well, then naturally it is, it's a great feeling. And so to see this young kid, come back, I mean, look what had happened to him with all those, with that crash,” he added.
Hundreds from both Pant and KL Rahul saw India take a lead of almost 300 runs on the loss of just four wickets. However, the visitors ended up suffering a batting collapse just like the first innings and lost their last six wickets for just 31 runs. This saw England get back into the game as India posted a target of 371 for the hosts. Their openers came out to bat for six overs during the fourth day and scored 21 runs for the loss of no wickets. The Three Lions require 350 runs on the final day of the match to emerge victorious and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.
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