'Absolutely Unbelievable': Once Called Him 'Stupid', Sunil Gavaskar Now Hails Rishabh Pant For His Calculated Leeds Knock

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Legendary India cricketer Sunil Gavaskar praised Rishabh Pant for his measured innings against England on Day1 of first test at Headingley, Leeds. He is currently unbeaten on 65* having played 102 balls. His inning was a perfect display of Test cricket where he took his time in the start playing with caution but later maximized on the bad balls he felt he could score off. It was a perfect blend of defensive and controlled aggression.

He shocked everyone in the ground by attacking the second ball he played against Ben Stokes, he hit him for a four straight the ground. His inning later showed how well he can adapt to the conditions as he hardly went for the bait deliveries of England's only spinner Shoaib Bashir.

Gavaskar On Pant
Gavaskar, who once called him stupid for his absurd dismissal during the Border Gavaskar Trophy in Australia has now hailed his batting approach and technique. He also talked about how the left hander plans brilliantly and he knows which bowler to attack.

“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,” said Gavaskar on Sony Sports.

He further praised him for taking his time on the crease.
“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.

The 27-year-old brought his fifty off 91 balls and now stands unbeaten at the end of Day1. He also crossed 3000 runs in Test cricket. The Indian vice-captain has played 43 tests scoring 6 Test tons.