Rishabh Pant has become the first touring wicketkeeper-batter to score two Test centuries on England soil. Pant's maiden Test century came against England in 2018 when he scored 114 runs in the fourth innings against Joe Root-led side.
A total of 14 touring wicketkeeper-batters have scored one Test century in England. The 24-year-old is the only Indian batter to breach the three figures in the longest format of the game in England.
This is Pant's fifth Test century and fourth in overseas conditions. Interestingly, all of Pant’s five Test centuries have come in the last Test of different series. He reached the three figures off 89 deliveries. This is the fastest Test century by an Indian wicketkeeper-batter. The record for previous fastest belonged to MS Dhoni, who got to the three figures from 93 deliveries.
In the rescheduled fifth Test against England, Pant shared a crucial sixth-wicket partnership with Ravindra Jadeja which broke a 43-year-old Indian record in Birmingham. This is India's highest partnership at the venue.
The previous highest partnership was of Indian openers Sunil Gavaskar and Chetan Chauhan in July 1979. Chauhan and Gavaskar shared a 124-run opening partnership in the third innings.
Pant also led India to their highest first innings score in Birmingham while batting first. The previous best while batting first was 224 when MS Dhoni scored a 77-run knock to help India recover from a batting collapse.
