The Indian cricket team made a strong comeback after getting reduced to 98/5 at one point in the fifth rescheduled test match which is being played at Edgbaston as it ended the first day on 338/7 with the help of beautiful innings of Rishabh Pant (146 runs, 111 balls, 19 fours & 4 sixes) and a brilliant knock of 83 runs* (165 balls, 10 fours) by Ravindra Jadeja.
The toss was won by the hosts and they decided to bowl first, decision of the English skipper Ben Stokes was proved correct by the England bowlers as James Anderson sent the Indian openers Shubman Gill (17) and Cheteshwar Pujara (13) back to pavilion quite early. If this was not enough, Matthew Potts didn’t let Hanuma Vihari settle on the crease and got him lbw out at the score of 20. Rishabh Pant came to bat after Hanuma Vihari departed and when everybody thought that he and Virat Kohli would bring the team out of the tough situation, the former Indian skipper was sent back by Matthew Potts at the score of 11 and left India reeling at the score of 71/4. Things turned uglier further when Shreyas Iyer also departed soon at the score of 15 and India was 98/5.
It was then Ravindra Jadeja arrived at the crease and he along with Pant not only brought India out of the problematic situation but also made it possible for the team to cross the 300 mark. Rishabh Pant took some time in settling down but after that, he counterattacked England by scoring runs at a quick pace. He started hitting as soon as Jack Leach was introduced by Ben Stokes, the spinner had a good time against New Zealand as he took a 10-wicket haul but Rishabh Pant hit him for a six and a four in the same over.
Rishabh Pant smashed a century in 89 balls and his ton certainly came at a time when India needed it the most. Pant got out at the score of 146 for which he faced only 111 deliveries and soon the micro-blogging site Twitter was flooded with reactions praising him for his knock.
Check out some of the selected tweets:
Sachin Tendulkar
Simply awesome @RishabhPant17!
Well done.👏Crucial innings by @imjadeja. Rotated the strike well and played some amazing shots.#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/9ACuhVlGTT
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt) July 1, 2022
Sourav Ganguly
Special exhibition of test match batting under pressure .@RishabhPant17 @imjadeja ..can't get better then this ..get to 375 tmrw ..
— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) July 1, 2022
Virender Sehwag
Pant is in a league of his own.
The most entertaining cricketer in the world, this is a special one. pic.twitter.com/PgGTjgxUd9— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) July 1, 2022
Dinesh Karthik
After such an engrossing, enthralling days play, I'm sure the headline can be much better and apt than this @ECB_cricket
That knock by @RishabhPant17 land the quality of test cricket played by both sides were as good as it can be and this is how you sum up a day 🤔#ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/T51tBycL6W
— DK (@DineshKarthik) July 2, 2022
Anand Mahindra
Test Cricket Tandav. #RishabhPant is a sports artiste. Impossible not to marvel at him… pic.twitter.com/Ei1HsrBjuv
— anand mahindra (@anandmahindra) July 2, 2022
Wasim Jaffer
Super stuff @RishabhPant17 👏🏽👏🏽 Easily the best WK batter in Tests right now 👊🏽 #ENGvIND pic.twitter.com/Ue7CqWPtBJ
— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) July 1, 2022
S. Badrinath
Blockbuster Batting @RishabhPant17 👏 #ENGvIND
— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath) July 1, 2022
Aakash Chopra
Rishabh Pant is India’s best ever wicket-keeper batter in ‘Tests’ …and he’s not even 25 yet. The number of Test match defining innings he’s played in just 30 matches is simply sensational. 👏 👏 #ENGvIND
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) July 2, 2022
Harbhajan Singh
Top knock 100 @RishabhPant17 when team needed the most .. keep it up #INDvsENG
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) July 1, 2022
Mohammad Kaif
👖 shows that self-belief can make you a game-changer #eitbaarkhudpe #ENGvsIND
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) July 1, 2022
Irfan Pathan
Rishabh Pant and his Punch in test cricket continues. Call him a super star for a reason!
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) July 1, 2022
Kuldeep Yadav
Fire hai 🔥🔥 @RishabhPant17 pic.twitter.com/oEHlQtPLTT
— Kuldeep yadav (@imkuldeep18) July 1, 2022
Amit Mishra
When in trouble, call the Spiderman!
What a fierce knock by rockstar Rishabh Pant against a quality english bowling unit under such circumstances. Best way to fight a fire is to fight it with the fire. #EngVsInd pic.twitter.com/q2mPeqTWyi
— Amit Mishra (@MishiAmit) July 1, 2022
Abhinav Mukund
What a masterclass from @RishabhPant17. Simply outstanding! Good hand from Jadeja as well. This partnership is working wonders for India after being in a precarious situation earlier! #INDvsENG
— Abhinav Mukund (@mukundabhinav) July 1, 2022
Shreevats Goswami
Rishab pant – Test cricket 🏏 maverick !! Strongly feel to emulate his test performance, he MUST open in white ball cricket . Exactly what the great Adam gilchrist did for Australia . Could be a game changing options for 🇮🇳 #INDvsENG
— Shreevats goswami (@shreevats1) July 1, 2022
Venkatesh Prasad
Box office stuff from Rishabh Pant. One of the best counter-attacking innings that one will ever see. One special player. #INDvsENG
— Venkatesh Prasad (@venkateshprasad) July 1, 2022
Other than Rishabh Pant, Ravindra Jadeja also played a superb innings as he completed his third century (104) before getting out on the bowling of James Anderson on the second day of the game. As far as the match is concerned, by the time this article was written, the Indian team had got all out for 416 and the skipper Jasprit Bumrah left everyone surprised with his smashing innings of 31 runs for which he played only 16 balls and his innings included 4 fours and 2 sixes. Bumrah brought back the memories of 2007 T20 World Cup alive as in that tournament, Yuvraj Singh scored 36 (6 sixes) of Stuart Broad’s one over and the current test skipper scored 35 runs in one over of Stuart Broad.
Currently, India is leading by 2-1 in the series; which team do you think will win this test match?