[WATCH] Former Indian spinner showers praise on Pant following his second century in Headingly Test

The Indian Test vice-captain Rishab Pant has already started making waves right from the onset of the Test series. The 27-year-old hit the ground running in the opening Test at Headingly and went after the English bowlers to smash a century each in both innings. In a match where the lower order failed to fire, Pant rose up to the challenge and made a significant contribution with the bat to give India an outside chance of emerging victorious. On the back of such a breathtaking performance, the flamboyant wicketkeeper-batter has now joined an elite list by becoming the only Indian wicketkeeper-batter to score a century in both innings. 

See also: Rishab Pant creates history by becoming the first Indian wicketkeeper batter to reach 800 rating points. Here is how the Twitterati reacted!

Star off-spinner's endless praise for dynamic Pant

Pant's exploits at Headingly have been lauded by several cricketing pundits and former Indian cricketers. Very recently, in a conversation with a journalist, India's now-retired spin-bowling legend Ravi Ashwin shared his thoughts following Pant's splendid show in the Headingly Test. While lauding Pant's dynamic style of batting, the veteran off-spinner also added that the swashbuckling hitter has got a myriad of shots in his books and a great defensive technique. 

Ashwin later confessed that had he been in Gambhir's or Gill's shoes, he would have urged Pant to bat even more responsibly, given the poor state of affairs concerning India's lower middle order. To be on the safer side, Ashwin expects Pant to reach a score in excess of 200 in the upcoming matches in the series. 

Ravi Ashwin who is test legend and great analyst of game has plenty of words for Rishabh pant’s 2 century

-But our coach Mr Gambhir got angry 😡 as soon as he listened name of pant

I am thinking what if this century came under Ravi shastri coaching pic.twitter.com/0WSeM4Snsy

— Harsh shekhawat (@wordofshekhawat) June 25, 2025

Pant's valiant effort with the bat helped India achieve 471 and 364 in the first and second innings, respectively. The Indian vice-captain slammed 134 (178) in the first innings and formed a defiant 209-run stand with the Indian skipper to take India to a dominating position. Subsequently, in the second innings, Pant was once again involved in forming a crucial partnership with Rahul, which was worth 195 runs. Pant was the second-highest run scorer after India in the second innings, scoring 118 (140).

Despite his heroic contribution, India paved the way for an easy victory for England as the hosts managed to trump the visitors convincingly on the final day of the Test match by five wickets.