Rishabh Pant made 134 and 118 in the Leeds Test.
While Rishabh Pant's audacious batting strategy during the first Test match against England at Headingley, Leeds, is enjoyable for onlookers, it probably generates worry in the Indian dressing room, according to former India spinner R Ashwin.
India's position has been reinforced by Pant's aggressive century in the second innings, which has set England a goal of 371 runs.
Against Brydon Carse, the left-hander tried a number of dangerous shots, including a reckless slog sweep that, happily for India, carried to the boundary because of the wind. However, he continued playing his shots and achieved the second century of the match.
Speaking about Rishabh Pant’s brilliant innings, R Ashwin dissected the knock on his social media account.
"His modus operandi has always been up for questioning. Against Brydon Carse, he played a slog sweep which did not seem like percentage cricket, which Dinesh (Karthik) did mention. Very questionable tactics, but that's the way he's been going about his business," Ashwin said in a video posted on his X account.
"If he's going to take the sword, might as well judge him by the performances and not by how he does it. As a fan, as someone watching the game away from the close quarters of the dressing room, I am enjoying it. But it could be very nerve-wracking sitting in the dressing room if you are a coach, or if you are one of those players who want to bowl in that fourth innings, it could be really, really tense," Ashwin added.
In the second session, Pant overcame his early difficulties and played with greater conviction, eventually hitting 118 runs off 140 deliveries. With 15 fours and three sixes in his innings, he showed that he could strike a mix between effectiveness and aggression.
Ravi Shastri, the former head coach of India, also offered analysis of Pant's batting strategy, highlighting the strategic reasoning behind his aggressive approach.
"People say Pant's batting defies logic, but there is an element of a sharp cricket brain behind it. He knows when to counterattack. "It comes off on some occasions and on others it doesn't, but if he had converted some of those seven dismissals in the 90s, he would have had a double-digit number of Test hundreds," Shastri said in his analysis after Stumps on Day 4.
England ended day 4 on 21/0, needing 350 runs more on the final day to win the Test and go 1-0 in the five-Test series.