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Rishabh Pant entertained the crowd at Headingley to the fullest with a spectacular century against England on Day 2 of the first Test on June 21. Upon reaching the milestone, the star wicketkeeper-batter performed his signature somersault celebration, much to the delight of the enthusiastic spectators in Leeds. This century also saw Pant breaking MS Dhoni's towering record as he become the Indian wicketkeeper-batter with the most Test centuries. However, Pant's innings was cut short at 134 when he was dismissed by Josh Tongue in what appeared to be a lapse in concentration.
Former India wicketkeeper-batter Dinesh Karthik, who was providing commentary for Sky Sports, raised questions about a potential message sent to Pant by head coach Gautam Gambhir. Karthik speculated that Pant might have been instructed to alter his aggressive approach following the quick dismissals of Shubman Gill and Karun Nair.
The delivery that led to Pant's dismissal occurred on the second ball of the 108th over. Josh Tongue bowled a delivery that curved back sharply late, and Pant, surprisingly, offered no shot. The ball struck him on the knee roll, and replays confirmed that it would have gone on to hit the middle and leg stumps, resulting in an unfortunate dismissal.
“Also very interesting, when a message was sent out to Rishabh Pant, it curbed his style of play. He was just very carefree with his stroke making, and yet the feeling that a message was sent to tell him to calm down doesn't work for certain players, I guess,” Karthik said from the commentary box.
“As a coach, it's completely understandable when you want to get a message across to the batter. But over time, you realise, for certain players, how you send that message becomes very important, what is the tone, what is the language used that gets the best out of the batter,” he added.
Karthik also emphasized that the head coach, Gautam Gambhir, should recognise the need for a different approach when working with a player like Pant to unlock his full potential.
“Maybe with Rishabh Pant, it needs to be a different way in which you get things done,” Karthik concluded.
India couldn't capitalise on the advantage in the first session on Day 2 as they lost their last seven wickets for mere 41 runs to concluded their innings at 471. Shubman Gill (147) and Rishabh Pant (134) were the standout batters for them. Meanwhile, Ben Stokes and Josh Tongue were the pick of the bowlers for England as they both bagged four wickets each
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