India wicketkeeper-batter Rishabh Pant achieved a rare feat by scoring centuries in both innings of the first Test against England at Headingley, becoming only the second wicketkeeper-batter in cricket history to accomplish this. The 27-year-old’s celebration after his second century caught attention when he declined Sunil Gavaskar‘s request for a somersault celebration, instead opting for a new gesture pointing towards his eye.Pant’s exceptional performance, combined with KL Rahul’s century, helped India set a challenging target of 371 runs for England in the final innings. The pair constructed a crucial 195-run partnership for the fourth wicket, contributing significantly to India’s second innings total of 364.
Go Beyond The Boundary with our YouTube channel. SUBSCRIBE NOW!The entire crowd and commentary team anticipated Pant’s trademark somersault celebration after he reached his century in the second innings, similar to his celebration in the first innings. However, Pant chose to signal towards Gavaskar in the stands, indicating he would perform the somersault later.“Very, very happy. I mean, anytime an Indian does well, you feel very happy because you know the passion for cricket in India, how just about every, in every family, I’m sure there is at least one person who, it might not be everybody, at least one person who follows the game,” Gavaskar said on Sony Sports Network after Day 4.Gavaskar continued his praise for Pant’s comeback, stating: “And therefore to make that family happy, if you can do well, if India does well, then naturally it is, it’s a great feeling. And so to see this young kid, come back, I mean, look what had happened to him with all those, with that crash.”
Former England captain Michael Vaughan questioned Pant’s new celebration during commentary: “Can you explain what that celebration is? Do you know what that is? I was waiting for that flip as well. I was rather disappointed on commentary when he didn’t produce a double flip. Knowing Rishabh, he’s always going to try to improve his celebrations, but I guess your celebration is probably taking this bit.”Gavaskar explained Pant’s new celebration: “No, this is, I think that’s basically, thanking the gods above. He had something on his eye. He kind of put us on the signal.”The former Indian captain shared a light moment about his own abilities: “You know what, I’ve got to confess that after that I came here and I, and I tried not to do the backflip, no chance of, at my age, but I used to do the backstand and I was looking to do the backstand. So if I could do it successfully then, then I would have shown it here, but I wasn’t able to.”At the end of Day 4, England reached 21 without loss. Opening batsmen Zak Crawley and Ben Duckett remained unbeaten on 12 and 9, respectively.
