“He has been measured” - Sunil Gavaskar hails Rishabh Pant for his measured approach on Day 1 of Leeds Test

Former Indian captain and commentator Sunil Gavaskar heaped praises on the Indian keeper-batter Rishabh Pant for his measured knock against England on Day 1 of the first Test at Headingley, Leeds.

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Batting at No.5, Pant smacked 65* runs off 102 balls with six fours and two sixes at a strike rate of 63.73. Interestingly, Pant’s innings was a mix of caution and aggression, which earned plaudits from Gavaskar.

Notably, Gavaskar slammed Pant in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy 2024-25 tour in Australia for throwing away his wicket when India needed him to bat for a longer period of time. However, the former Indian skipper is amazed to see Pant play a calculated knock in England.

“It seems like that’s how he plays. When he comes in to bat, on the second or third ball, he often uses his feet and hits a boundary. It makes him feel free and then allows him to play the way he wants. Over here, he's been measured in his approach, giving himself time out in the middle. But once he's in and the bowlers start to tire, that's when he begins to step down the pitch and really attack, hitting big shots, sixes, and boundaries,” Gavaskar said on Sony Sports.

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Moreover, the former Indian legendary cricketer also hailed Pant, stating that since he gave enough time to settle himself on the wicket, it turned out to be a bit easier for him to play aggressive shots later in the day. 

“Because he gives himself that time early on, it becomes easier for him to play those aggressive strokes later. When he defends, he seems to have so much time against the pace bowlers—it almost looks like he's taking the mickey out of them, saying, "Look, I've got all the time in the world; I don't need to play a big shot, I'm just middling the ball. He’s got enormous talent. I’ve seen him score hundreds in South Africa and Australia, and they've been absolutely unbelievable. There’s such a great blend of defence and attack—starting with solid defence and then shifting to attack,” he added.

Though Pant scored his first boundary on his second ball, his second four came on his 48th ball against Chris Woakes. Later in the day, he paced up his innings, scoring a four and a six off Shoaib Bashir to bring up his fifty, and later also completed 3000 Test runs.

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