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Indian cricketer Rishabh Pant has once again made India proud by hitting a brilliant Test century against England at Headingley. What made it special? He completed his 100 runs with a one-handed six yes, with just one hand!
What Happened in the Match?
During the second day of the match, Pant smashed Shoaib Bashir’s ball for a six to reach his 7th Test hundred. He took 146 balls, hitting 10 fours and 4 sixes.
Before him, two other Indian batsmen, Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill, had already scored centuries in this match. This shows how strong India’s batting line-up is in this series.
Record-Breaking Moment
With this century, Pant has now scored the most Test hundreds by an Indian wicketkeeper. He broke the record of former captain MS Dhoni, who had 6 centuries in Tests.
Pant’s performance is not just great for this match but historic for Indian cricket.
Pant: A Legend on Foreign Land
This is Pant’s third century in England, making him the only foreign wicketkeeper in history to score 3 centuries in England.
His other two centuries in England came at The Oval in 2018 and Birmingham in 2022. Out of his 7 Test centuries, 5 came outside India in countries like Australia, South Africa, and England.
Pant Equals AB de Villiers
Pant now stands equal to South Africa’s AB de Villiers in the list of wicketkeepers with most Test centuries. He is now in 4th place globally.
Here’s the top list:
- Adam Gilchrist (Australia): 17 centuries
- Andy Flower (Zimbabwe): 12
- Les Ames (England): 8
- AB de Villiers (South Africa): 7
- Rishabh Pant (India): 7
Missed Centuries: The Nervous Nineties
Pant has also been unlucky many times. He has been out 7 times in the 90s from scores of 91 to 99. Only on 94 and 95 he wasn’t out. He even remained not out at 89 once.
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If all these had turned into centuries, Pant would have been second after Gilchrist in the all-time list of top Test wicketkeeper batsmen.
King of SENA Countries
Pant is also the only Asian wicketkeeper to hit so many Test centuries in SENA countries that is South Africa, England, New Zealand, and Australia.
Others like Moin Khan (Pakistan) have just 2 centuries, while names like KL Rahul, Dinesh Chandimal, and Mushfiqur Rahim have just 1 century each in these countries.
Bonus: Shubman Gill’s Bat Story Goes Viral
Apart from Pant, fans are loving Shubman Gill’s story too. He hit his century in the same match using a bat that was once broken but repaired. A video on Instagram is going viral, where Gill shares the emotional connection behind that bat.
Disclaimer: This article is based on match coverage and sports statistics available at the time of writing. Player stats may change as future matches happen.
