Rishabh Pant broke a number of records with his twin centuries against England in the first Test of the five-match series at Headingley. It was a terrific batting display from the 27-year-old which helped the Men in Blue in posting big totals in both of their innings. With his knocks of 134 and 118 in the first and second innings respectively, Pant absolutely dominated against England's bowling attack. However, despite his valiant efforts, India would come up short and lose the clash by five wickets as the hosts took a 1-0 lead in the series.
Pant shattered many records with his tons against England
The twin tons saw Pant's tally of Test hundreds reach eight and also saw him leave behind MS Dhoni and become the Indian wicketkeeper-batter with the most centuries in red-ball cricket. He also became the first wicketkeeper-batter from India to score two centuries in a single Test. However, legendary India spinner Ravichandran Ashwin feels that comparing Pant and Dhoni is unfair as the latter never really batted on the No.5 spot in the longest format. He further stated that Pant should rather be compared to the likes of Virat Kohli.
“Comparing MS Dhoni and Rishabh Pant is not fair. MS Dhoni never batted at No.5. MS Dhoni was a keeper-batter, and I would say Pant is a batter-keeper. There are a lot of differences in that,” Ashwin said on his YouTube channel.
“Rishabh Pant should be compared with the likes of Virat Kohli. He is a main batter. The time and skill Pant has, when he is batting, look at the time he has against the pacers,” he added.
Ashwin also stated that if he were in Gautam Gambhir's position, then he would talk to Pant about the need for him to score double-centuries as the lower-order ain't contributing many runs to India's total.
“I sometimes feel if I was Gautam Gambhir, I would take him aside and tell him, 'you played exceptionally well and I would have loved to be the batter with the ability that you have' but can I request you to make a double hundred next time when you are batting at 130 because you know the lower-order cannot contribute much. That would be the only request I would make of Rishabh. What a talented player,” Ashwin stated.
Pant will be looking to continue his blistering form in red-ball cricket in the second Test of the series against England which will be held at Edgbaston and will commence from July 2. India will be desperate for a win in the second encounter as if England manage to rack up another win and take a 2-0 lead, then it will be a mountain task for Shubman Gill & Co. to make a comeback.