IND vs ENG, 1st Test Day 3 Highlights: KL Rahul, Shubman Gill hold fort as India post 90/2, lead 96 runs at Stumps | Cricket News
Why handspringing Rishabh Pant is a box-office superstar in traditional Leeds
India’s Rishabh Pant does a cartwheel to celebrate after scoring a century on day two of the first cricket test match between England and India at Headingley in Leeds, England, Saturday, June 21, 2025, (AP Photo/Scott Heppell)
Anyone who was at Headingley on Saturday, be it English, Indian or neutral, would tell you why Test cricket needs the delightfully entertaining and daringly innovative Rishabh Pant. Centuries Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill on Day 1 were high art, they were exhibits of cricket correctness, the kind fans in these parts have appreciated for centuries.
But on Day 2, at the home ground of England’s most traditional county, Yorkshire, Pant put up a show that had sights and strokes the locals would not have imagined, forget seen. Pant, unbeaten on 65, took a little more than an hour to be India’s third centurion as the visitors continued to flex the batting muscle. He scored a box-office knock of 134 from 178 balls. This was followed an anti-climax of wickets falling in a clutch. At lunch, India were 457/7. The cloud was overcast and the bowlers were smiling again but not everyone was mesmerised the Pant magic.
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