Former Australian captain Greg Chappell has heaped praise on Rishabh Pant, saying that the Indian wicketkeeper is "reinventing the game as a batsman".

Chappell’s comment came after Pant slammed twin centuries in the first Test match against England at Headingley, Leeds.

The southpaw followed up his brilliant 134 in the first innings with an entertaining 118 in the second essay. As a result, he became only the second wicketkeeper in history to score a century in both innings of a Test match, joining Zimbabwe legend Andy Flower in the elite list.

Chappell said the Indian Test vice-captain has been playing strokes which are not even in the "MCC playing manual".

"When I first saw him, he reminded me of Adam Gilchrist...a different sort of player, of course, but...the difference it can make to a team when a wicketkeeper can bat at that level and to score runs quickly," Chappell said during a promotional event organised by str8bat on Wednesday.

"The beauty is Rishabh gets runs at a very fast rate which gives you time to win cricket matches. His was a phenomenal performance. Some of the shots he played weren't in the MCC playing manual."

"He is really reinventing the game as a batsman. With modern technology, the bats are very different and you can play shots which weren't possible with the old bats. He's exciting to watch," Chappell added.

The Australian great further expressed his awe for Rishabh Pant’s talent, emphasizing that one can never know what the left-hander can come up with on the cricket field.

"You never quite know what to expect from him from the first ball. At any stage he is likely to jump down the wicket to the fast bowlers or play the falling ramp shot," Chappell said.

"You never quite know what to expect. It keeps the opposition on their toes. He is a match winner (and he) very nearly made the difference in that game."

Chappell reckoned Shubman Gill had a good start as the Indian Test captain even though they lost the match by five wickets.

"It was a terrific Test match. Sadly, India didn't finish on the correct side of the ledger. There were a lot of good things for them," Chappell said.

"Shubman Gill had a great start as a captain and as a player even if they did not get the result. Conditions were probably better on the last day than they were at any other stage of the Test match."

"Both Gill and the Indian think tank would have learned a lot on what to take forward. Gill will only get better and better. I think his start was pretty good. Had the team taken more catches and the tail wagged a bit, the results could have been very different," he continued.

(With PTI Inputs)