Before the start of the India-England Test, there was a lot of discussion about the England team. The British had a clean sweep of New Zealand 3-0. New captain Ben Stokes and new coach Brendon McCullum were being praised for making the England team fierce and aggressive. Stokes said for Team India before the match – We will play against every opponent in the same way as we played against New Zealand.
In the first few hours of the Birmingham Test, it seemed that the England team had become heartless now. What a great bowling, what a strong attitude. Not even 28 overs and half of India’s team in the pavilion. Score 98/5…it seemed like 125-150 would not get all out on the go.
Then Rishabh Pant entered like a troubleshooter. He showed such a formidable form with the bat for the next 3 hours that the British flying in the air got blown up on the ground. Captain Ben Stokes was hiding his face again and again as if he was saying ‘Trahimam… Trahimam….
Pant has also broken the 17-year-old record of Mahendra Singh Dhoni in this innings. He scored the fastest century in Test cricket as an Indian wicketkeeper.
Hit 19 fours and 4 sixes
Pant did something similar. Completed half century in 51 balls. Completed a century in 89 balls. Second century on England soil. When he got out, he had 146 runs in 111 balls. 19 fours and 4 sixes. A bowler like James Anderson conceded 52 runs in 19 overs. Pant again played a reverse skip shot on his delivery. If a reverse sweep is made on a bowler who has taken more than 600 wickets, then it is not less than a slap for him.
England’s new star fast bowler Matthew Potts, who dismissed Virat Kohli, was beaten even more. He conceded 85 runs in 17 overs.
The worst thing happened to left arm spinner Jack Leach. He conceded 71 runs in 9 overs. Pant was voluntarily collecting fours and sixes on his balls. Leach took 11 wickets in his last Test and was named man of the match, but in front of Pant, he went past a club level bowler.
England team has given 32 extras till now
If such an international level is crushed, it is bound to be frustrated in front of its audience. So did the British. How he lost his senses, know it from the fact that he bowled 12 no-balls in just 73 overs. 9 runs were spent in over throws. A total of 32 extras have been looted so far.
The pitch is friendly to the batsmen and England can make a strong comeback from here as well. It is possible that some of his batsmen also play fast and vigorous innings, but on the first day of the match, the way a 5 foot, 5 inch Uttarakhandi youth blew their air, they will never be forgotten. Let us now also know some records made by Pant in this match.
Guru Dhoni left behind
Pant has also broken the 17-year-old record of Mahendra Singh Dhoni during this innings. His century in 89 balls is the fastest century by any Indian wicket-keeper batsman in Test cricket so far. Dhoni scored a century in 93 balls against Pakistan in 2005. If Pant had scored a century in 85 balls, he would have become the fastest batsman to score a century for India in Test cricket. Currently this record is in the name of Kapil Dev (86 balls). Mohammad Azharuddin has scored a century in 87 balls.
Five centuries in the last test of the series
Pant has scored the fifth century of his career. The special thing is that all these centuries have been made in the last test match of a series. That is, we can say that Pant performs better in pressure test matches.
Highest partnership for 6th wicket
Pant and Jadeja put on a 222-run partnership for the sixth wicket. This is Team India’s biggest partnership for this wicket against England. The previous record was in the name of Pant and KL Rahul. Both of them had added 204 runs against England at the Oval in 2018.
Source: dainikbhaskarup.com
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