Follow UsRishabh Pant, after enduring a lot of criticism during Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, answered the critics in style by slamming not just one, but two centuries in the first Test of the five-match series against England. The twin centuries in Headingley suddenly turned the tides in favour of the southpaw.
Former India coach and Australian great Greg Chappell compared Pant to former Australian wicketkeeper batter Adam Gilchrist in terms of impact on the game by his batting.
“What an exciting cricketer! What a player to have on your team!,” Chappell was quoted as saying by Sportstar.
“He reminded me very much of Adam Gilchrist. The difference that it can make to a team is to have a wicketkeeper that can bat at that level and to score runs quickly,” added the Australian great.
Pant, who became the first Indian keeper and only the second wicketkeeper batter ever to score twin centuries in a Test, after Andy Flower, was rated highly by Chappell for his out-of-the-world shot selection.
“The beauty of it is that Rishabh gets his runs at a very fast rate, which gives you time to win cricket matches. He was a phenomenal performer (at Headingley). Some of the shots that he played probably weren’t in the MCC coaching manual when I last looked at it,” said the 76-year-old.
In the list of most centuries by wicketkeeper batters, Pant now sits at the fourth position behind greats Gilchrist, Flower and Le Ames of England. He has already surpassed MS Dhoni as the Indian wicketkeeper with most centuries. Chappell believes that Pant is gaining success as he is reinventing batting.
“He is reinventing the game as a batsman. In modern technology, bats are very different, obviously. You can play shots that weren’t possible with the old bats. But, man, he is exciting to watch. You never quite know what to expect from him from the first ball,” Chappell said about Pant.