Rishabh Pant turned solely the second wicketkeeper batter ever and the primary from India to attain twin centuries in a Take a look at match, when he pummelled 134 and 118 in opposition to England on the Headingley Stadium in Leeds. His captain, Shubman Gill, marked his Take a look at debut with a century himself, hitting a career-best 147, however all that was decreased to merely an afterthought, as regardless of 5 particular person centuries, India fell brief. Chasing 371 to win, England batted outstandingly to get to the goal with 5 wickets remaining and take a 1-0 lead.
The frustration was palpable. Not typically does a group rating nearly 800 runs in a Take a look at match and but find yourself on the shedding facet. Spare a thought for Gill, Pant, KL Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal – those who did not do a lot mistaken. Nicely, barring Jaiswal, who put down 4 catches within the Take a look at. Gill’s captaincy abilities have been put to the check within the fourth and remaining innings, the place a few of his selections copped flak. Nonetheless, it is only one match, and relaxation assured, Gill will solely get higher from right here.
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Surprisingly, although, even the animated and chirpy Pant was hit exhausting by the defeat. Taking to Instagram, Pant posted footage from the match and captioned them, “It will sting us for some time, however we BELIEVE in bouncing again stronger.”
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The collection opener turned out to be a bittersweet expertise for Pant. Whereas he created historical past with the bat and gloves behind the stumps, he needed to pay the value for his involvement within the ball change episode. On Day 3, Pant, after a dialogue with the umpire, threw the ball down in disgust after the official Paul Reiffel refused to alter the ball. Pant escaped with out copping a nice however did get handed a demerit level for ‘exhibiting dissent’ on the umpire’s resolution. 48 hours later, India misplaced, which made issues worse for the vice-captain of the group.
Shubman Gill guarantees comeback
Gill, too, posted on Instagram, his caption stating, “Each battle leaves you sharper”. And positive sufficient. Forward of the beginning of the collection, numerous knives have been pointed at Gill for the BCCI’s resolution to make him captain. And secure to say, he could have silenced a couple of mouths. Not solely did Gill present indicators of greatness with the bat, however he additionally took the sport till the ultimate hour of the Take a look at match. The truth that India’s center order did not put up any battle or his fielders dropped as many as seven catches in your entire match made his life a hell lot more durable, however Gill was not keen to throw within the towel at any stage.
